Underwater Radiated
Noise Management Tool
Underwater Radiated Noise Management Tool
The Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) Management is a very critical aspects for both military and non-military applications. The noise emitted by the marine platforms (or warships in military terminology) needs to be effectively managed for improved acoustic stealth and also acoustic habitat degradation. The URN management has multiple challenges particularly in the tropical littoral waters of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The acoustic capacity building is a critical aspect for effective URN management and the complete dynamics need to be understood. The proposed product provides a very comprehensive solution for effective URN management in the IOR.
The warships need to avoid detection by the sonars of the adversary and also acoustic mines.Acoustic stealth has been there since time immemorial, however the domain has remained in secrecy due to obvious reasons. Every navy has to formulate its strategy, develop technologies and also build human resource to effectively manage the acoustic signature.
The merchant marine has to also get involved in URN management as global community is aggressively pursuing noise reduction for ensuring sustainable growth with better marine ecosystem.The urgency of the issue is very obvious with the frequent stranding of big whales in the IOR and beyond. The fear of high cost involved is unfounded as mass usage of the available acoustic stealth technologies by the merchant marine will bring down the cost.
With high end prediction algorithms and modelling& simulations techniques, it is possible to facilitate enhanced ship design and construction for both acoustic stealth and acoustic habitat degradation.URN management has never been part of the process and has always remained an afterthought. It can bring efficiency and effectiveness, if made part of the entire ship design and building process right from the planning stage.
- Policy formulation for effective URN management based on the application.
- State-of-the-art technology support right from site-selection to ground truthing and analysis.
- Accurate signature prediction of the platform at all stages from design to construction and operations across regimes of operation. Capacity and Capability Building Support on all the three fronts from policy, technology &innovation and human resource development.
- Documentation support on strategy,bench marking, SOPs and analysis reports.
- Automatic report generation with real time measurement and analysis results.
- Application specific analysis tools and signal processing algorithms.
- Comprehensive Database Management System.
- Complete Hand-holding right from regime definition to ranging and deployment of MARS. Even Maintain,Repair and Operate (MRO) support can also be provided.
- Policy formulation for effective URN management based on the application.
- State-of-the-art technology support right from site-selection to ground truthing and analysis.
- Accurate signature prediction of the platform at all stages from design to construction and operations across regimes of operation. Capacity and Capability Building Support on all the three fronts from policy, technology &innovation and human resource development.
- Documentation support on strategy,bench marking, SOPs and analysis reports.
- Automatic report generation with real time measurement and analysis results.
- Application specific analysis tools and signal processing algorithms.
- Comprehensive Database Management System.
- Complete Hand-holding right from regime definition to ranging and deployment of MARS. Even Maintain,Repair and Operate (MRO) support can also be provided.
The most critical starting point of URN management is the regime definition, so that the measurement is undertaken in a manner that can address all aspects of the analysis requirement. It requires much deeper understanding of the machinery onboard, role of the platform, design issues and also the analysis priority.
The type and occasion of the ranging will determine the measurement and analysis details. First of the class, will require bench marking, so a very detailed ranging is desired, however other subsequent occasions like follow-on ships or event pre & post refit may not require as much details.
The underwater topography in the IOR does not permit effective fixed ranges so portable ranges or Mobile Acoustic Range System (MARS) is the only option. The MARS need to be deployed appropriately that accounts for distortions and other physical conditions, so site selection for the deployment location is extremely critical.
The calibration of the ranges is an important pre-condition, however the ground truthing ensures end to end error management right up to the presentation of the results. Multiple signal processing tools can be incorporated to better manage the errors.
This entails precise measurement of the signatures in-spite of the distortions in the underwater medium and also with distinct & appropriate machinery configuration. The measurement process needs to factor hardware and software errors in addition to the environmental factors. The analysis requirements need to be appropriately defined and planned while finalizing the machinery configurations. Operational, diagnostic, design,maintenance, bench marking, cavitation, trend analysis,system study, propulsion study and other requirements need to be factored while formalizing the analysis requirements.
The signature prediction is another critical requirement given the machinery fit and layout of the platform. It has implications in design, construction, deployment and multiple other applications. Modelling &Simulations tools need to be deployed with deep understanding of the entire radiated noise generation process along with data analytics.
The deeper understanding of the above two steps will facilitate deception, where the platform can alter its signature and avoid identification by the adversary or even minimise impact on marine species in a specific habitat. In the present times of intelligent acoustic mines, this is a very critical capability critical requirement given the machinery fit and layout of the platform. It has implications in design, construction, deployment and multiple other applications. Modelling & Simulations tools need to be deployed with deep understanding of the entire radiated noise generation process along with data analytics.