Tracking Underwater Noise Sources with the Use of a Passive Method

It is possible to track a source of noise by determining the intensity of sound that informs about the sound energy flow direction. One of the methods of determining the sound intensity of acoustic signals is the so-called gradient method in which the pressure is measured with the use of two hydrophones placed close to each other. Tetrahedral antenna consists of four hydrophones spaced at regular tetrahedron vertices so that distances between hydrophones are the same. The tetrahedral antenna determines six virtual points in the middle of each edge and allows using sound intensity calculation algorithm to determine the noise source bearing. In our experiment, the antenna was located 23 meters below the sea surface and a source of noise was moving over it. The object that was moving along a straight line with a specific course was equipped with a GPS receiver. This allowed comparison of the obtained targeting results with the real track of moving object. The paper presents the object tracking algorithm which was implemented in the MATLAB environment as well as some of the results of research carried out on passive source noise tracking.