Patent ID: 8644592

Claim:
A method for determining a position of a fluid discharge in an underwater environment, the method comprising: a) collecting data relating to an underwater area through at least two acoustic sensors; b) filtering and processing the data collected so as to obtain a plurality of single three-dimensional images of the underwater area analyzed; c) forming a single stereoscopic image by combining the plurality of single three-dimensional images; and d) estimating the position of the fluid discharge on the basis of the formed single stereoscopic image; wherein, for each combination of data collected by the acoustic sensors, the filtering and processing comprises: b1) generating a bidimensional image only comprising points revealed having a greater intensity; b2) dividing the bidimensional image into detached regions by combining homogeneous and contiguous portions of the bidimensional image; b3) identifying among the regions those regions representing a flow of the fluid discharge; b4) projecting the regions identified in a three-dimensional image and determining a geometrical form of the three-dimensional image; b5) reducing acoustic noise contained in the three-dimensional image through statistic filtering.