Analysis and Modeling of Multistatic Clutter and Reverberation and Support for the FORA

Abstract

Abstract : The long-term goals of this effort are to: Assess capability of directional arrays for inversion and reverberation studies Characterize acoustic clutter in a manner that will lead to its mitigation Improve geo-acoustic parameter extraction from reverberation data Construct suitable high fidelity reverberation and scattering models for model/data comparison and inversion Operate and maintain the Five Octave Research Array (FORA) for ONR-OA Help plan, participate in, and analyze data from the GULFEX12 pilot and TREX13 Reverberation and Scattering Experiments and the 2014/2015 pilot and Bottom Characterization Experiments. The PI s technical objectives for the experiments are to characterize and model multistatic bottom clutter and demonstrate inverse methods on reverberation data. Continue improvement and validation of a new range-dependent reverberation and clutter model (a more accurate forward model for inversion) and the automated geo-acoustic inversion technique from reverberation data developed by the PI and D. Ellis of DRDC. Continue Reverberation Modeling Workshop follow-on activities. Use nearfield triplet data from the Five Octave Research Array (FORA) to extract bottom information for the upcoming ONR experiments and fold it into inversion schemes using reverberation data (together with C. Holland). Continue investigations of optimum triplet processing to enhance the quality of extracted clutter and reverberation data. Continue to investigate statistical differences between sonar clutter from the sea bottom interface and the bio-clutter masses seen in select data sets.