A personal history of Doppler sonar development at the Marine Physical Laboratory, SIO

Abstract

In the early 1970s, the possibility of remotely measuring oceanic and atmospheric flows was becoming appreciated. By then, techniques for information extraction from sets of discrete targets were well advanced. Inferring fluid motion from the echo off a random cloud of independent scatterers was a different issue, as illustrated by the abject failure of contemporary matched-filter technology. Conceptual as well as hardware challenges were addressed over time, leading to the variety of Doppler sonars and sodars available commercially today. In this talk, I focus on systems developed at the Marine Physical Laboratory of Scripps over the past 42 years. Both pulse-to-pulse coherent and incoherent backscatter systems are reviewed with an emphasis on real-world problems encountered. Presently, under-exploited techniques based on sea-surface scattering or bi-static geometries are discussed. While many quality Doppler sonar manufacturers are now active, a large gap exists between what is technically possible and what is commercially available. The continuing vitality of university-based development groups that create scientifically significant (but not necessarily commercially profitable) systems is critical to advancing the state of the art.