A near field technique for acoustic array element localization

A beamformer’s effectiveness is sensitively dependent on accurate knowledge of the array element positions. Current techniques for using acoustic data to localize array elements are generally quite effective with distant acoustic sources, but are of questionable accuracy when an array must be localized with sources located in the extreme near field. A geometric technique for localizing arrays was developed and appears effective for near field sources. The method was tested with impulsive acoustic data collected from a line array deployed in shallow water, ensonified with light bulb implosions from various positions very close to the array. The presentation will include a discussion of the technique and the experimental results.