Underwater Object Identification by Means of Reflected Sonar Signals

Abstract

The paper presents the research results of the underwater object identification method on the basis of periodogram analysis of hydroacoustic signals reflected from them with the application of voting algorithm. The identification of an object in the article means making a decision to distinguish it from other objects. Hydroacoustic signals are the main means of obtaining information about the underwater environment, they are also widely used to detect and identify underwater objects, including ships, submarines and underwater structures. The identification of underwater objects is an important task to ensure the safety of underwater exploration and the efficient utilization of marine resources in a noisy and complex underwater environment, including the presence of several natural objects and the use of various underwater exploitation techniques. The study proposes an approach that uses periodogram analysis followed by a voting algorithm to solve the problem of underwater object identification. Periodogram analysis is a method that identifies characteristic time and frequency features in hydroacoustic signals reflected from different types of objects. The proposed approach takes into account different characteristics of the signal periodogram to identify the unique features of each underwater object. The main purpose of this work is to develop and investigate a set of features using periodograms that take into account the specificity of hydroacoustic signals and the unique properties of different types of underwater objects under study. This approach allows to achieve a sufficiently high accuracy of identification. The paper presents the results of experiments conducted on real hydroacoustic signals. These results allow us to conclude about the effectiveness of the underwater object identification method by reflected hydroacoustic signals on the basis of periodogram analysis. The results of the study have practical significance and can be applied in applications related to underwater research.