Sea trial research on multi-source underwater acoustic image measurement technology based on the sparse array

Abstract

The underwater acoustic image measurement technology is a technology of passive acoustic localization in near field, which can get the track of moving target by measuring the main noise sources of the target through large scale array. Because of the complexity of underwater environment, it is difficult to lay a large high-accuracy half-wavelength array. Thus it is more convenient to use a sparse array in underwater acoustic image measuring. The sea trial research on the underwater acoustic image measurement based on the sparse array has been done to verify the feasibility of the method. The experiment result shows that using sparse array would lead to a series of interference fringes appearing in the image, but the interference fringes can be removed by frequency-division integrated technology. Three tracks measurement results of a catamaran are given. The results prove that the method is feasible.