Air Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Environmental Characterization using Existing Tactical Sensors

New ways are sought to improve air ASW search performance by estimating acoustic environmental parameters using existing Fleet assets. Successful ASW missions require characterization of the environment that is accurate, current, and local. Currenttechniques include pre-mission planning efforts using historical databases, and in-situ mission updates using BT and future TAM buoys. Using existing Fleet assets to accurately estimate environmental parameters provides real opportunities to augment theseefforts, increase ASW search rate performance, and improve mission effectiveness.RDA proposes using tactical sensors to characterize the environment continuously and in real-time. Robust methods to measure ambient noise and reverberation levels are outlined using standard air Navy sensors including DIFAR and ADAR receiver buoys.Using solutions outlined for saturation and clipping effects, the transmission loss can also be measured. Bottom-loss and bottom-scattering strength are estimated using an iterative technique based on genetic algorithms and simulated annealing.RDA provides broad experience in air Navy ASW operations including design and development of source and receiver buoys, in-buoy signal processing, RF links, digital signal processing, and real-time systems. A number of benefits are expected from the work and efforts of this SBIR. First is the ability to provide to the Navy operator an accurate, real-time characterization of the operating environment during the mission search phase. Second is immediatefeedback of mission performance, with direction to improve the performance. Third is an improved ASW search rate.Additional benefits include an inexpensive yet effective method for environmental characterization that finds broad application in military, coast guard, weather watch, environment monitoring, and wildlife protection efforts.