Optimal tonal detectors based on the power spectrum

The detection of tonals embedded in noise is an important sonar function and the traditional power spectrum analysis method has been widely used for this purpose. Wagstaff et al. (1997) proposed the WISPR (Wagstaff´s Integration Silencing PRocessor) family processors, which perform a nonlinear integration or combination of the power spectrum observations. In this paper, we analyze the statistical property of the power spectrum observations and develop novel tonal detectors by optimally integrating the spectrum observations. The optimal detectors are derived by using the method of maximum likelihood hypothesis test. The results from simulations and real sea trial data have shown that the proposed detectors are promising in detecting tonals.