Sonar Sensor Array and Method of Operating Same

A sonar sensor array is provided that has reduced power consumption, data bandwidth and data storage requirements. The sensor array may be configured to a sleep mode, low-resolution mode and high-resolution mode. In the sleep mode, all sonar sensors are configured in the sleep mode and no acoustic signals are detected. In the low-resolution mode, a limited number of sonar sensors are powered and acoustic signals received by the sonar sensors are processed with reduced bandwidth and reduced dynamic range, and then stored on a data storage device. In the high-resolution mode, the acoustic signals detected by the sonar sensors are processed with full signal bandwidth and full dynamic range and then stored on the data storage device.