Analysis of reverberation characteristics for sniper localization in an urban environment

Abstract

Acoustic sniper localization algorithms have proven useful to soldiers, but are difficult to implement in urban environments, due to reverberation and diffraction. Research is being performed to assist traditional localization methods by interpreting reverberant responses present in urban environments. Measured sniper responses are processed to establish if the first acoustic path is direct or indirect, based on characteristics of the received signal. If the first arrivals on several receivers are direct, an accurate relative time delay can be determined for each, which leads to accurate source localization. Indirect microphone arrivals can adversely affect the localization algorithm. Various metrics were used to characterize received signals: Arrival energy, reverberation decay time, initial arrival crest factor, and relationships between first and subsequent arrivals. Combining these factors aids in the identification of obstructed receivers, providing information about the effectiveness of a channel in a localization algorithm.