Ocean parameter estimation with high-frequency signals using a vector sensor array

• Autor(es): Santos, P.
• Data: 2012
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/3469
• Origem: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
• Tipo de Documento: Tese de Doutoramento
• Idioma: Inglês
• Orientador(es): Jesus, S. M.; Felisberto, P.

Descrição

Tese de dout., Engenharia Electrónica e Telecomunicações (Processamento de Sinal), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2012 Vector sensors began to emerge in 1980s as potential competitors to omni directional pressure driven hydrophones, while their practical usage in underwater applications started in the last two decades. The crucial advantage of vector sensors relative to hydrophones is that they are able to record both the omni-directional pressure and the three vectorial components of the particle velocity. A claimed advantage of vector sensors over hydrophones is the quantity of information obtained from a single point spatial device, which potentially allows for high performance small aperture Vector Sensor Arrays (VSA). The capabilities of such small aperture VSA have captured the attention for their usage in high-frequency applications. The main contribution of this work is the understanding of the gain provided by vector sensors over hydrophones whenever ocean environmental parameter estimation is concerned. In a rst step a particle velocity-pressure joint data model is proposed and an extended VSA-based Bartlett estimator is derived. This data model and estimator, initially developed for estimating direction of arrival, are generalized for ocean parameter estimation, assuming a particle velocity capable physical model - the TRACEO model. The highlighted capabilities of the VSA are rst demonstrated for angle of arrival estimation, where a variety of spatial con gurations of hydrophone arrays are compared to that of a vertical VSA. A vertical VSA array con guration is then used for estimating geoacoustic bottom properties from short range acoustic data, using two VSA-based techniques: the generalized Bartlett estimator and the re ection coe cient estimator proposed by Harrison et al.. The proposed techniques where tested on experimental VSA data recorded in shallow water area o the Island of Kauai (Hawaii) during the MakaiEx 2005 experiment. The obtained results are comparable between techniques and inline with the expected values for that region. These results suggest that it is indeed possible to obtain reliable seabed geoacoustic properties' estimates in a frequency band of 8-14 kHz using a small aperture VSA with only a few sensors.