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UNDERSEA WARFARE AND ACOUSTIC INTELLIGENCE
Signal Physics Division (SPD) personnel employ their broad range of
expertise in undersea warfare and acoustic intelligence to conduct
research in the use of active and passive sensors for both tactical and
surveillance systems. SPD's technical strengths include sensor signal
and information processing, with a strong emphasis on innovative
techniques for detecting, classifying, tracking, and localizing
contacts of interest. SPD staff members have also spearheaded efforts
to train Navy operators on the tactical employment of active sonar.
Since 2004, they have trained more than 400 enlisted Navy operators in
courses taught at ARL:UT and at the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare
Training Center in San Diego.
ACTIVE SONAR
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Acoustic display formats
developed by SPD scientists
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SPD
plays a prominent role in development, testing, and refinement of
automated detection, classification, and localization (DCL) systems for
the Navy’s surface Fleet. Recent achievements include:
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Development and delivery of the active signal and information
processing and display system—based on SPD's Advanced Acoustic Analysis Adjunct for IMAT (A4I)—after successful completion of
government acceptance testing. This system was integrated into the Scaled Improved Performance Sonar
(SIPS), which has been deployed on 26 destroyers and cruisers in the
U.S. Pacific Fleet. The key focus of this work is to reduce
manning requirements by increasing automation capabilities. This system
encompasses:
- Acoustic displays that show contact information in an intuitive format
that greatly enhances the sonar operator’s situational and
environmental awareness.
- A
portable Echo Tracker Classifier (ETC) processing and display system
that facilitates at-sea testing. This system has been deployed on
numerous Fleet exercises in order to demonstrate its future
capabilities, obtain Fleet feedback, and collect data. Tests conducted
by the Navy, using Fleet operators, have demonstrated that this system
significantly increases the operator’s detection and classification
capability. ETC is targeted for transition into the Navy Fleet as part
of the AN/SQQ-89 ASW Combat System.
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Participation in numerous ONR and ASTO-sponsored initiatives to improve
active sonar capabilities by adapting signal and information processing
and multisensor data fusion to environmental conditions. Under this
effort, SPD is developing enhanced acoustic displays to make the use of
active sonar more effective by increasing operator awareness of
environmental effects. These displays enable the operator to validate
predictions and explore target hypotheses in situ.
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Ongoing
participation in analysis, training, and mission planning. SPD’s
Analysis, Training, and Mission Planning Group (ATMPG) is a critical
Navy resource for large-scale Mid-Frequency Active SONAR Analysis,
Reconstruction, and Education Development. ATMPG has developed the only
ASW-oriented Active Acoustic Analysis program in the U.S. Navy. This
program includes education and development of advanced skills for
critical human capital—from SONAR Analyst to Sea Combat
Commander—through multiple courses of instruction provided at ARL:UT
and at several Fleet sites world-wide.
ATMPG has completed the most extensive and detailed active acoustic reconstruction and
analysis of large-scale naval operations ever undertaken, analyzing more than 17,000 active transmissions
within 90 days of receipt of data. This effort produced key insights across the spectrum of Sea Base Defense,
from sensor to watch-stander, across tactics, operations, applications, and mission planning.
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 DDG-51 Flight II Class – A4I Enhanced Situational Awareness and Management Display
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ATMPG
continues to develop effective and transportable techniques in the
classification of active signatures related to biologic, geophysical,
hydrodynamic, and mechanical reflectors for critical U.S. Naval systems
and personnel.
In
addition, SPD scientists lead Sea Base Defense analysis and
experimentation, oversee an Active Reconstruction and Analysis Lab, and
manage data collection, system development, and multi-media
visualization. One of these scientists manages the largest modern
Mid-Frequency archive in the U.S. Navy.
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PASSIVE SONAR
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 Team preparing to deploy SPD-developed autonomous acoustic buoy
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The
primary emphases of SPD’s Passive Sonar Group include research into
acoustic intelligence to help the Navy meet the challenges faced by its
Special Operations mission. As part of this effort, SPD has undertaken
signal processing research in the areas of higher order statistics and
wavelet processing as applied to both stationary and transient signals.
This work encompasses:
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Development
of passive statistical signal processing algorithms for detection,
localization, and classification based on an understanding of the
physics of the sound-generating mechanisms
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Basic and applied research on structural vibrations and structural acoustics (in
support of signal processing work)
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Development of small, persistent, low-power autonomous systems that can operate in adverse ocean environments
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Involvement in ONR’s Persistent Littoral Undersea Network (PLUSNet)
program, a collaborative effort among University Affiliated Research
Centers, universities, and industry. The purpose of this program is to
develop a new approach to ASW, involving distributed mobile and/or
fixed nodes with the capability to detect and respond to the presence
of a submarine in the field area. A SISL staff member serves as
system engineer for this program.
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For further information regarding SPD's work in Undersea Warfare and Acoustic Intelligence, please contact:
Director-sisl@arlut.utexas.edu
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