2023_programme: Geoacoustic inversion using a sparse and distributed array of unsynchronized hydrophones

• Session: 16. Trends and Advances in Array Signal Processing
  Organiser(s): Angeliki Xenaki, Peter Gerstoft and Eliza Michalopoulou
• Lecture: Geoacoustic inversion using a sparse and distributed array of unsynchronized hydrophones [invited]
  Paper ID: 1935
  Author(s): Bonnel Julien, Dosso Stan, Wilson Preston, McNeese Andrew
  Presenter: Bonnel Julien
  Abstract: Classical geoacoustic inversion experiments usually consist of a central site with one or more receiving arrays, and a variety of sources (explosives, towed loudspeakers, etc.) that are deployed around the site by a ship. In a dynamic ocean, this classical set-up is problematic, as the water column can fluctuate during the time the sources are being deployed. In such cases, it is very difficult to assess the seabed spatial variability without being impacted by the water column spatio-temporal variability. In this presentation, we propose to reverse the experimental setup: A sound source occupies the central position, and a sparse network of receivers is distributed around it. The keypoint here is that each node of the distributed array can be a single autonomous (unsynchronized) hydrophone, provided that suitable signal processing methods are used to analyze the data (e.g. warping can be used to estimate modal dispersion). This concept will be illustrated empirically using data collected during the 2022 Seabed Characterization Experiment (SBCEX22) on the New England Mud Patch. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research]
• Corresponding author: Dr Julien Bonnel
  Affiliation: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  Country: United States
  e-mail: