Electro-acoustic Perturbations (EAP) Exploitation

This Phase II SBIR project will develop and test an advanced technology electric field sensor system for airborne use. The highly sensitive, 3-dimensional sensor system is intended for detection of transient electroacoustic signals in the atmosphere. The Phase II work is based on results from Phase I, in which details of the postulated electroacoustic signals were modeled, and preliminary design concepts for the detection of those signals were developed. Phase I also emphasized the importance of accurate knowledge of ambient electrical noise in the operating environment and of signal processing methods that can exploit the characteristics of both signal and noise. Accordingly, Phase II will include tasks to (1) obtain accurate measurements of ambient electrical noise using the newly developed sensor system, and (2) develop an optimum signal processing scheme that takes account of modeled signal characteristics, measured noise characteristics and measured properties of the sensor system. Field tests of the system under realistic flight conditions will be performed.