NITECH ››› ENSURING ACCESS TO CRITICAL DATA
USING OCEANOGRAPHIC DATASETS TO IMPROVE DECISION-MAKING
0 The current return to great power competition is establishing a new chapter for naval warfare, where the submarine force is expected to play a relevant role. In addition to their lethal destructive power, submarines create a tremendous amount of uncertainty for adversaries by exploiting their stealth Water Sound capabilities and discreet Speed Profile surveillance on the battlefield. This uncertainty is a substantial element of the deterrent power of the submarine force, compelling surface naval forces to devote enormous resources and effort to detecting submarine threats.
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Underwater vehicle (AUV). NATO’s CMRE tests such systems to explore potential application in military operations. (PHOTO: CMRE)
In Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations, naval units with different endurance and power are usually distributed among specific marine sectors to configure detection and search patterns. Underwater acoustics is the primary, but not the only, technology involved in conducting these ASW operations. The effectiveness of underwater
acoustics is highly dependent on the intervening medium and its imposed limitations on sensor performance. Sonar-based detection, localization and tracking capabilities are heavily influenced by the acoustic propagation loss. The rapid and timely assessment of acoustic propagation loss is required to reduce the uncertainty induced by the variable nature of the marine environment. This environmental assessment provides sufficient and realistic environmental information to optimize sensor designs, signal processing and the configuration of detection and search patterns. Acoustic propagation loss is highly dependent on the sound speed profile (SSP) of the water column and the acoustic reflection properties and geometry of its surface and bottom boundaries. SSP, in turn, is mainly determined by the thermal stratification of the water column. Knowledge about the spatial and time variability of the underwater temperature enables commanders to estimate sonar ranges to decide the appropriate ASW tactics to optimize tracking and detection. Traditionally, hydrographic ships from the world’s navies navigated the oceans collecting oceanographic data to build climatologies. Due to the impact of climate change, the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) is currently contributing to the updating of these climatologies in strategic regions such as the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The eXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) and the Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) are the preferred probes for this collection of oceanographic data. XBTs
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