Multiplane deconvolution in underwater acoustics: Simultaneous estimations of source level and position.

In many acoustic imaging applications, conventional beamforming (CBF) cannot provide both accurate position and source level estimates simultaneously. Also, the CBF acoustic maps suffer from many artifacts due to the spreading of large point-spread-functions. An original CLEAN deconvolution procedure, including an additional plane containing out-of-plane interfering sources, is proposed here to achieve simultaneous localization, source level estimation, and de-noising. The approach is illustrated using experimental data mimicking a challenging deep-sea mining configuration: an underwater acoustic source of interest is located 700 m below the sea surface, tens of meters from a 3 m-length array, with boat noise as the disturbing source.