Application of beam-forming techniques to measurements of acoustic scattering from the ocean

Abstract

Signals from an explosive source backscattered from the seafloor and received at long range by

hydrophones of a towed array are processed to estimate the directional distribution of energy for a

given time increment. An assembly of these data shows the time and amplitude of scattering features,

and after conversion to distance, the geographic location of the return. A frequency-domain beamforming

procedure is used in which beam levels are averaged over a given band of a broad-band

source. The processing is applied to experimental data obtained in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The

major backscattering occurred at the Baconi Seamounts and the coastal margin of Sardinia.