Research on Passive Ranging Technology of Moving Ship Based on Vertical Hydrophone Array

This paper introduces a method for the range localization of a moving ship based on the vertical hydrophone line array. The main implementation steps of the proposed algorithm are as follows. First, the stable low-frequency line spectrum component of the broadband radiated noise from the moving ship was extracted through the Detection of Envelope Modulation on Noise (DEMON) spectrum analysis method. Second, the pressure difference between the two different ranges was derived, and the corresponding interference fringes were observed in the plane of time and time interval. Then, the radial velocity of the moving ship could be obtained based on the period of the pattern oscillations of the interference fringes. Further, we estimated the time and range information of the Closest Point of Approach (CPA) and computed the ship range versus time. Finally, each element of the vertical hydrophone line array was processed by the method proposed above, and data fusion technology was adopted to reduce the impact of ineffective elements and improve the range estimation accuracy. The results of the simulation and experiment of a 16-element vertical array performed in the South China Sea verified the effectiveness of the algorithm.