Underwater sound modelling and object localization

Standing

Graduate (PhD)

Type of Proposal

Visual Presentation (Poster, Installation, Demonstration)

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering

Proposal

Every object with a propulsion system makes sound waves while moving on or in the water. These voices travel through water and attenuate as they move further from their source. Hydrophones and passive sonars are devices designed for recording voices propagated under the water. Different methods can be used to detect the source of the sound wave. By using multiple hydrophones, placed in a specific layout, we can design an array of sensors capable of tracking the changes in the movement of the voices propagated from an object. By tracking these movements and based on the time and the phase difference between received voices picked by our sensors we can detect the exact location of the intended target. To analyze the voices propagated under the sea or to use sonar sensors for mapping the seabed, first, we need to model the sound propagation with high accuracy. Other studies used varies methods to study and analyze the acoustic signal propagation under the water. Wavenumber integral, ray theory-based method, Normal‐Mode Theory are amongst the most famously used methods. Ray theory while suitable for implementation purposes given its low complexity is not very accurate. On the other hand, wave theory-based methods as well as normal mode methods are highly accurate and work well with a low frequency but are high in computational complexity. In this study, first we apply an optimized version of Ray theory to model the sound propagation under the water. Then, we implement a hydrophone array with 16 low noise microphones and a high data rate data acquisition board to collect samples. Using our testing devices, we confirmed our methods of signal localization.

Grand Challenges

Sustainable Industry

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Underwater sound modelling and object localization

Every object with a propulsion system makes sound waves while moving on or in the water. These voices travel through water and attenuate as they move further from their source. Hydrophones and passive sonars are devices designed for recording voices propagated under the water. Different methods can be used to detect the source of the sound wave. By using multiple hydrophones, placed in a specific layout, we can design an array of sensors capable of tracking the changes in the movement of the voices propagated from an object. By tracking these movements and based on the time and the phase difference between received voices picked by our sensors we can detect the exact location of the intended target. To analyze the voices propagated under the sea or to use sonar sensors for mapping the seabed, first, we need to model the sound propagation with high accuracy. Other studies used varies methods to study and analyze the acoustic signal propagation under the water. Wavenumber integral, ray theory-based method, Normal‐Mode Theory are amongst the most famously used methods. Ray theory while suitable for implementation purposes given its low complexity is not very accurate. On the other hand, wave theory-based methods as well as normal mode methods are highly accurate and work well with a low frequency but are high in computational complexity. In this study, first we apply an optimized version of Ray theory to model the sound propagation under the water. Then, we implement a hydrophone array with 16 low noise microphones and a high data rate data acquisition board to collect samples. Using our testing devices, we confirmed our methods of signal localization.