Containment As A Measure Of Sonar System Performance

Since World War II, the standard metrics for sonar system performance have been Figure-of-Merit and detection range if a specific environment was considered. Detection range can be computed many times for objects of varied depths to yield a similar metric - the depth coverage map. Although satisfactory for general comparisons of simple sonar systems, these metrics fail to account for essential features of sophisticated systems. A more comprehensive measure of sonar system performance is the containment region. For our purposes, containment region is the region in which objects can be detected based on environmental factors and sonar system characteristics. Sonar system characteristics include detailed signal processing, reradiation characteristics, and searcher and object trajectories. A computer model has been developed which accounts for all these characteristics and additionally allows for the imposition of fixed physical boundaries and avoidance tactics. Although different in detail the model is based on principles previously developed by Sudha Reese. The resulting pictures of containment area present an enlightening view of sonar system performance and provide a basis for evaluating current and future systems.