3D Underwater Localization with Hybrid Ranging Method for Near-Sea Marine Monitoring

Location information is fundamental and essential for UWSNs monitoring underwater environment. Underwater environment requires three dimensional localization algorithm. Several localization protocols and system architectures have been proposed for underwater sensor networks. In this paper, 3D underwater localization algorithm is proposed for near-sea marine monitoring system, using a small number of beacons. Underwater sensors are found through a hierarchical approach. We also propose a distributed self-organized ordering scheme and a hybrid ranging method selecting one of TOA and RSS measurement in order to improve localization accuracy. The proposed 3D underwater localization algorithm increases the coverage of underwater sensor network and makes it possible to achieve accurate location.