Probing the Environmental Limits of Passive Sonar Probing the Environmental Limits of Passive Sonar
Abstract
The proposed work involves harnessing adaptive signal processing with geometric feature extraction and sophisticated ~big data~ mac"hine learning techniques to track, interpret, and learn potentially intertwined signatures of diverse oceanic events in shallow water acoustics. Oceanic phenomenaof interest include but are not limited to multipath acoustic scattering, Doppler effect from fluid motion and moving reflectors in the ocean, high-energy transient events such as surface wave focusing, constructive multipath interference, structured ambient noise, etc. To achieve this end, This proposal is in response to the challenges raised at the Tactical Oceanography Symposium in mid October, 2018. The overall objective of this 3-year research project (spanning 4 federal fiscal years) is to quantitatively evaluate the properties of the underwater sound field ~ both signal and noise - and quantitatively relate these propertiesto the characteristics of the environment. The ultimate goal is to determine theenvironmental limits to the achievable gains (array gain and processing gain) in the passive sonar equation. The proposed effort has a seagoing experimental component, an in-depth data analysis and numerical modeling component, a publication component, and a transition component. The location of the proposed sea test is west of San Diego, CA in proximity to station locations in the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation program (Figs. 1 and 2) where extensive, high quality oceanographic and biological data have been collected since 1951. Its objective is to simultaneously measure the underwater acoustic field - both with and without controlled signals present ~ over oceanographically and biologically relevant time scales (greater than one season), across as wide an acoustic frequency band (5 Hz to 40 kHz), with as great a spatial diversity (at least 6 different sites), and as fine a directional estimation capability (up to 12-elem hydrophone arrays at LF and up to 4-elem hydrophone arrays at HF) as existing data acquisition systems and resources will allow, in an area well characterized by ongoing oceanographic and biological measurement programs. The basic science/signal processing research effort in this proposed program will be conducted mostly by twoScripps (SIO) graduate students, Camille Pagniello and Kelley McBride, under the supervision of their co-advisors Dr. Jules Jaffe, Prof. Mike Buckingham, and Dr. Gerald D~Spain. Results will be published in peer-reviewed papers and the students~ Ph.D. theses. Transition of fleet-relevant results will be coordinated via ONR Code 32 t"o the relevant U.S. Navy activities, including Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) in San Diego.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912565
Entities
People
- Gerald D Spain
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, San Diego