Marine mammal range and depth estimation using non-separated multipath propagation

Abstract

In passive acoustic monitoring, source localization using multipath propagation can be challenging whenever the source-receiver configuration leads to unresolved paths. Here, we propose a single-hydrophone method to estimate the range of a source based on two steps. First, we define a time deformation operator (e.g., Bonnel et al. 2014) to estimate the signal’s impulse response (IR). Each group of paths, when warped at its time of arrival, is transformed into a tone that corresponds to a peak in the IR, which can be isolated in the warped time-frequency domain, permitting a significant improvement of the time resolution of the multipath, or groups of multipath. Next, relative arrival times are used to estimate the source range and depth. When only groups of paths are resolved, the identity of the paths constituting the group remains unknown, preventing the use of classical localization methods. To overcome this critical limitation, we apply an approach based on the characterization of groups of paths to estimate source location. We evaluate the method’s performance on synthesized data, and examine its potential use on humpback whale low-frequency modulated calls using data collected off Cabo San Lucas in 2013.