A new method for wideband sensor array processing

A computationally efficient sensor array processing method has been developed for detection and bearing estimation of wideband planewave sources above or below a planar array of sensors. The method uses the time-averaged covariances of undelayed sensor signals to estimate the wavenumber spectrum in the array plane. This spectrum contains directional information as well as wideband temporal frequency characteristics of the planewave sources. The usefulness of this method for an acoustic aircraft tracking problem is demonstrated with experiments on real data.