Passive acoustic detection of closed-circuit underwater breathing apparatus in an operational port environment

Abstract

Divers constitute a potential threat to waterside infrastructures. Active diver detection sonars are available commercially but present some shortcomings, particularly in highly reverberant environments. This has led to research on passive sonar for diver detection. Passive detection of open-circuit UBA (underwater breathing apparatus) has been demonstrated. This letter reports on the detection of a diver wearing closed-circuit UBA (rebreather) in an operational harbor. Beamforming is applied to a passive array of 10 hydrophones in a pseudo-random linear arrangement. Experimental results are presented demonstrating detection of the rebreather at ranges up to 120 m and are validated by GPS ground truth.