Abstract
The acoustic detection and classification of completely and partially buried objects in the multipath environment of the coastal ocean presents a major challenge to the underwater acoustics community. However, the rapidly emerging autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology provides the opportunity of exploring entirely new sonar concepts based on mono-, bi-, or multistatic configurations. For example, the medium frequency regime (1–10 kHz) with its bottom penetration advantage may be explored using large synthetic apertures, where acoustic information is accumulated over a series of sonar pings. The performance of such approaches is highly dependent on accurate platform navigation and timing, which poses a significant challenge to AUV developers, particularly because the navigation procedures are themselves dependent on the complicated multipath acoustic environment. Using experimental data from the GOATS’98 SACLANTCEN/MIT experiment, this paper describes an investigation into the feasibility of combining seabed scattering data from consecutive pings of a fixed parametric source to form a bistatic synthetic aperture for target localization and imaging with an AUV-based receiving platform. The paper describes different levels of bistatic processing including both incoherent and coherent beamforming and very large aperture interferometric approaches, and the associated performance trade-offs are discussed. [Work supported by ONR and SACLANT.]
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call