Acoustic sensor array for determination of undersea acoustic signatures

Identifying undersea objects and their locations at any time is a growing research area for topological mapping applications. The capability to classify, characterize, and identify ocean anomalies would enable a more precise tracking capability and a more reliable communications system. The objective of this study is to present a spatial and temporal acoustic structure that will be able to both track and identify ocean anomalies as well as to characterize the transmission channel. This consists of using a multiple sensor spatial array with a multi-sensor correlation analysis capability. Both spatial and temporal acoustic signals are received from transmitting source. The Pearson product moment correlation is used to correlate the received acoustic signal in the form of both transmission loss and received phase temporally at a spatially distributed sensor array. Each originating source of an acoustic signal will have various distinguishing unique characteristics that are referred to as acoustic signatures. This combination of a spatial and temporal multi-sensor array together with the Pearson product moment correlation is proposed as a new analysis method and it is combined with the Dempster-Shafer Theory to compute and arrive at a degree of belief. The proposed acoustic architecture will have the ability to ascertain and distinguish between acoustic signatures.