Abstract: A system for generating a wide-angle, forward-looking bathymetric map of an region ensonified by single ping. A transmitter generates a large angle transmit pulse. An array of acoustic transducer elements operates to transmit the pulse, receive acoustic return signals and convert the returns into digital acoustic data. A receiver matched filters, shades and steers the data through a series of horizontal angles. For each horizontal angle steered to, the receiver generates vertical beams and identifies detections as those vertical beams having magnitudes greater than a detection threshold. Vertical beam forming and detection identification is repeated for each time slice in a series of time slices over the ping cycle. The identified detections are refined using a curve fitting analysis and stored in equal angular vertical bins. A bottom profile is generated from the refined angles and magnitudes.