Matched field tracking at laboratory scale

Laboratory scale measurements have been conducted to investigate the concept of matched field tracking in shallow water. Matched field source tracking correlates experimental measurements to theoretical solutions of the acoustic field for possible source tracks. High correlation between the measurements and the theoretical solutions identify the trajectory of the source. Due to the complexity of shallow water propagation caused by rapidly changing bathymetry and sediment properties, it is proposed that simple solutions of the acoustic field be used in the matched field tracking algorithm. The results of two experiments have shown that simple solutions of the acoustic field were capable of identifying the track of an acoustic source in a three-dimensional shallow water environment.