Gaussianity analysis of ambient noise in littoral tropical water

The performance predictions for sonar assume a background of Gaussian noise, however, deviation from this assumption may generate false alarms. This paper attempts to find out whether the ambient noise in tropical waters of the western coast of Indian continental is Gaussian. Gaussianity is tested using graphical, numerical and verified using formal normality tests like Kolmogorov Smirnov (KS) test and Lilliefors (LF) test. Ambient noise recorded at 30 m of depth using passive sonar is found non-Gaussian. The percentage of Gaussianity is calculated periodically eight times over the day at an interval of one hour every five minutes recording. The effect of known noise sources like wind speed, tide height and temperature, on the percentage of Gaussianity, is found linear.