Abstract:

The data from May 1996 Shallow Water evaluation cell Experiment (SWellEx-96) are used to evaluate the performance of commonly used processors in matched-field processing (MFP). The objective of SWellEx-96, which was conducted west of Point Loma in shallow water, was to investigate source tracking using matched-field processing and low-level signal detection. Data were recorded on a 64-element 118-m vertical line array and on an identical 45-deg tilted line array anchored in 200 m of water. A cw source emitting tonals from 49--388 Hz was towed over tracks ranging up to 6 km from the array. Signals were transmitted in group of frequencies. The source level in each frequency group decreased by 3 dB every 3 Hz, thus making it possible to study MFP as a function of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Various figures of merits have been used to evaluate the performance of the Bartlett, the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) as well as MVDR with white-noise gain-constraint (MVDRWNC) processors.