title: Bayesian focalization: quantifying source localization with environmental uncertainty.
abstract: This paper applies a Bayesian formulation to study ocean acoustic source localization as a function of uncertainty in environmental properties (water column and seabed) and of data information content [signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and number of frequencies]. The approach follows that of the optimum uncertain field processor [A. M. Richardson and L. W. Nolte, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 2280-2284 (1991)], in that localization uncertainty is quantified by joint marginal probability distributions for source range and depth integrated over uncertain environmental properties. The integration is carried out here using Metropolis Gibbs' sampling for environmental parameters and heat-bath Gibbs' sampling for source location to provide efficient sampling over complicated parameter spaces. The approach is applied to acoustic data from a shallow-water site in the Mediterranean Sea where previous geoacoustic studies have been carried out. It is found that reliable localization requires a sufficient combination of prior (environmental) information and data information. For example, sources can be localized reliably for single-frequency data at low SNR (-3 dB) only with small environmental uncertainties, whereas successful localization with large environmental uncertainties requires higher SNR and/or multifrequency data.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P6, Canada. sdosso@uvic.ca
authors.forename: Stan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Dosso
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wilmut
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D004777:Environment; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D013017:Sound Localization