Deployable underwater surveillance systems(DUSS): localization and fusion of multistatic contacts: evaluation of feasibility using experimental data

Abstract

Active sonar deployable underwater surveillance systems (DUSS) are based on a distributed network

of small multistatic transmitter 1 receiver nodes. This study analyzes the contact localization

capabilities of DUSS with experimental data and simple modelling. Localization error medians of 118 m were measured analyzing 450 pings on 3 receivers in 2 frequencies and 3 target trajectories. This error produces a scattering of the contacts of the three receivers around their "barycentre", which is

assumed by the multistatic system as the best estimation of the target position. Such scattering was

found to be limited to an overall median value of 110 m. The integration of the distributed sonar nodes into a single, extended surveillance system is therefore possible with contact association windows of that size, corresponding to about 100 bearing - range cells. The resulting improvement of contact

localization errors was estimated at around 22%. Efficient data fusion methods can therefore be investigated with good expectations. The experimental results do not depend on frequency, target range and trajectory, receiver monostatic / multistatic deployment geometry. Performance objectives

and system specifications are also derived for prototype design. The precision of compasses and asset deployment positioning are the most critical parameters.