An Introduction to Sonar Systems Engineering

Second Edition

Important topics that are fundamental to the understanding of modern-day sonar systems engineering are featured. Linear, planar, and volume array theory, including near-field and far-field beam patterns, beam steering, and array focusing, are covered. Real-world arrays such as the twin-line planar array and a linear array of triplets, which are solutions to the port/starboard (left/right) ambiguity problem associated with linear towed arrays, are examined in detail.

Detailed explanations of the fundamentals of side-looking (side-scan) and synthetic-aperture sonars are presented. Bistatic scattering with moving platforms is explored with derivations of exact solutions for the time delay, time-compression/time-expansion factor, and Doppler shift at a receiver for both the scattered and direct acoustic paths. Time-domain and frequency-domain descriptions, and the design of CW, LFM, and Doppler-invariant HFM pulses, are explained. Target detection in the presence of reverberation and noise is examined. Time-domain and frequency-domain descriptions of MFSK, MQAM, and OFDM underwater acoustic communication signals are also discussed.

Although the book is mathematically rigorous, it is written in a tutorial style. Many useful, practical design and analysis equations for both passive and active sonar systems are derived from first principles. No major steps in the derivation of important results are skipped – all assumptions and approximations are clearly stated. Particular attention is paid to the correct units for functions and parameters. Many figures, tables, examples, and practical homework problems at the end of each chapter are included to aid in the understanding of the material covered.

New to the Second Edition