Development of a matched filter detector for acoustic signals at local distances from small explosions

Abstract

A method for acoustic detection of small explosions at local distances is presented combining a matched filter with a p-value representing the conditional probability of detection. Because the physics of signal generation and propagation for small, locally recorded acoustic signals from small explosions is well understood, the single hypothesis to be tested is a signal corrupted by additive noise. A simple analytical signal representation is used where a known signal is assumed with parameters to be determined. The advantage of the approach is that the detector can be combined with other detectors that measure different signal characteristics all under the same unifying hypothesis.