Passive Sonar Performance Modeling

Accurate passive acoustic (ASW) performance modeling requires high-fidelity environmental inputs, accurate acoustic propagation and noise modeling as well as the integration of the statistics of the detection of quiet signals in a dynamic environment. In this paper we present the combination of Parabolic Equation modeling with state of the art statistical signal processing to be able to incorporate platform motion and target kinematics. The complex interplay between environmental acoustics as well as source and receiver motion can be addressed. A recently developed C-language efficient Parabolic Equation solution to the passive sonar performance prediction is presented. Historically, due to a separation of disciplines between physics and mathematical operations research, the propagation and motion model/statistical detection have been separated and performed independently in series. In this paper we present a fictional scenario of a the protection of the Cook Strait, New Zealand, against clandestine submarine attack. Experimental results from a deep-water experiment in the Philippine Sea will be presented at the conference.