Active Sonar Statistical Estimation Tool (ASSET)

As underwater threats continue to evolve, active sonar systems and operators must evolve with them, requiring improvements to sources, receivers, signal processing algorithms, and search mission planning applications in order to maintain and improve detection rates. Any improvements in the latter requires a detailed and accurate understanding of the acoustic underwater environment, and the underlying sound propagation that leads to acoustic detection. However, the uncertainty underlying existing acoustic modeling approaches and databases makes predicting complex acoustic features challenging. Daniel H. Wagner Associates, together with the University of Michigan Department of Mechanical Engineering, propose an Active Sonar Statistical Estimation Tool (ASSET) that will very efficiently characterize environmental uncertainty and identify regions where acoustically important phenomena are likely to occur. ASSET will provide a probabilistic assessment of the detection process that accounts for uncertainties arising from random acoustic fluctuations, short-term and long-term water-column temperature fluctuations, and uncertainty arising from sea state variations that can be incorporated into anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission planning aids.