The sonobuoy originated from military submarine detection¡Ait was also used to measure ocean acoustic signal by scientists¡Abut the continuous recording and transmitting design by early sonobuoy is not suitable for long-term or scheduled observations. In this research¡A¡§off the self¡¨ components were integrated to develop an autonomous sonobuoy¡Awhich can be used to measure shipping noise and marine life acoustic signal in coastal water. The electronic design is based on a PC motherboard¡Ait is currently configured with a maximum sampling rate of 44.1 kHz¡Aand a maximum storage capacity of 40 GB. The sound was collected by a plug and play hydrophone system¡Awhich is controlled by a program written by LabVIEW. In addition to the programmable data acquisition and low cost advantages¡Athe flexible design allows quick system expansion and adjustment¡Ait can also be configured to record from multiple transducers.

Modern sonar systems have greatly improved their sensor technology and processing techniques, but little effort has been put into display design for sonar data. The enormous amount of acoustic data presented by the traditional frequency versus time display can be overwhelming for a sonar operator to monitor and analyze. The recent emphasis placed on networked underwater warfare also requires the operator to create and maintain awareness of the overall tactical picture in order to improve overall effectiveness in communication and sharing of critical data. In addition to regular sonar tasks, sonobuoy system operators must manage the deployment of sonobuoys and ensure proper functioning of deployed sonobuoys. This thesis examines an application of the Ecological Interface Design framework in the interface design of a sonobuoy system on board a maritime patrol aircraft. Background research for this thesis includes a literature review, interviews with subject matter experts, and an analysis of the decision making process of sonar operators from an information processing perspective. A work domain analysis was carried out, which yielded a dual domain model: the domain of sonobuoy management and the domain of tactical situation awareness address the two different aspects of the operator's work. Information requirements were drawn from the two models, which provided a basis for the generation of various unique interface concepts. These concepts covered both the needs to build a good tactical picture and manage sonobuoys as physical resources. The later requirement has generally been overlooked by previous sonobuoy interface designs. A number of interface concepts were further developed into an integrated display prototype for user testing. Demos created with the same prototype were also delivered to subject matter experts for their feedback. While the evaluation means are subjective and limited in their ability to draw solid comparisons with existing sonobuoy displays, positive results from both user testing and subject matter feedback indicated that the concepts developed here are intuitive to use and effective in communicating critical data and supporting the user’s awareness of the tactical events simulated. Subject matter experts also acknowledged the potential for these concepts to be included in future research and development for sonobuoy systems. This project was funded by the Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships (IPS) from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the sponsorship of Humansystems Inc. at Guelph, Ontario.

Modern sonar systems have greatly improved their sensor technology and processing techniques, but little effort has been put into display design for sonar data. The enormous amount of acoustic data presented by the traditional frequency versus time display can be overwhelming for a sonar operator to monitor and analyze. The recent emphasis placed on networked underwater warfare also requires the operator to create and maintain awareness of the overall tactical picture in order to improve overall effectiveness in communication and sharing of critical data. In addition to regular sonar tasks, sonobuoy system operators must manage the deployment of sonobuoys and ensure proper functioning of deployed sonobuoys. This thesis examines an application of the Ecological Interface Design framework in the interface design of a sonobuoy system on board a maritime patrol aircraft. Background research for this thesis includes a literature review, interviews with subject matter experts, and an analysis of the decision making process of sonar operators from an information processing perspective. A work domain analysis was carried out, which yielded a dual domain model: the domain of sonobuoy management and the domain of tactical situation awareness address the two different aspects of the operator's work. Information requirements were drawn from the two models, which provided a basis for the generation of various unique interface concepts. These concepts covered both the needs to build a good tactical picture and manage sonobuoys as physical resources. The later requirement has generally been overlooked by previous sonobuoy interface designs. A number of interface concepts were further developed into an integrated display prototype for user testing. Demos created with the same prototype were also delivered to subject matter experts for their feedback. While the evaluation means are subjective and limited in their ability to draw solid comparisons with existing sonobuoy displays, positive results from both user testing and subject matter feedback indicated that the concepts developed here are intuitive to use and effective in communicating critical data and supporting the user’s awareness of the tactical events simulated. Subject matter experts also acknowledged the potential for these concepts to be included in future research and development for sonobuoy systems. This project was funded by the Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships (IPS) from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the sponsorship of Humansystems Inc. at Guelph, Ontario.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / November 04-07, 1991 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Recent advances in acoustic detection and array processing have led to a new, state of the art, Sonobuoy Missile Impact Location System (SMILS). This system was developed for the 4950th Test Wing by E-Systems and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to support ballistic missile testing in broad ocean areas. The hardware and software required to perform the SMILS mission were developed in two different areas: 1) The flight system, installed aboard the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA), which provides everything necessary to guide the aircraft to the target area of Deep Ocean Transponders (DOTs), deploy sonobuoys, recover signals from the sonobuoys, and to process the recovered signals. The sonobuoy positions and impact locations of reentry vehicles are determined aboard the aircraft in real-time by telemetering the acoustic signals sent from the sonobuoys via Radio Frequency (RF) link to the aircraft. These acoustic signals are also recorded on analog tape in the aircraft. 2) The Post Mission Analysis System (PMAS), located at the 4950th Test Wing, processes the analog tapes recorded by the aircraft to do more sophisticated Processing than that performed on the aircraft, providing higher resolution of impact times and positions. This paper addressees the theory of PMAS operation and the specific approach used to perform automated acoustic detection of both narrow and wide band acoustic signals. It also addressees the processing technique employed to determine sonobuoy navigation and impact scoring.