Acoustic aircraft detection sensor

A great deal of illicit cargo enters the United States on small, fixed wing, propeller-driven aircraft. Acoustic sensors are capable of detecting, recognizing, and locating low flying fixed wing aircraft even when the aircraft are not within line of sight. The authors present the technology principles for the design of an acoustic aircraft detection sensor, including prediction of detection range, atmospheric propagation effects, signal processing algorithms, microphone characteristics, and data transmission alternatives. Data obtained with an experimental acoustic sensor system were used to evaluate detection and tracking algorithms. The results of the evaluation are presented