Using warping processing to range bowhead whale sounds from a single receiver

Abstract

In certain shallow water environments, the acoustic propagation of low-frequency marine mammal calls can be well-modeled as a discrete set of normal modes. Each mode propagates with a different group velocity, and thus in principle the range of the call can be inferred by comparing relative arrival times of the modal arrivals. Traditionally, several time-synchronized hydrophones are required to spatially filter out individual modes in order to measure relative arrival times. In this presentation a nonlinear signal processing method classed “warping” is used to identify individual mode arrival times on a single receiver, even when the mode arrivals are overlapping in time. Warping processing is limited to frequency-modulated sources with monotonic increases or decreases of frequency with time. It is thus applicable to whale calls that consist of simple frequency-modulated upsweeps or downsweeps. Once the modes are separated, the source range can be estimated using conventional modal dispersion techniques. This method is applied on several bowhead whale vocalizations recorded near Kaktovik (Alaska) in 2012. Bowhead whale calls are ranged up to 35 km under median ambient noise conditions. These single-receiver range estimates are consistent with estimated ranges previously obtained via other methods [Work supported by North Pacific Research Board and Shell Exploration and Production Company.]