Source localization in environments with deterministic and stochastic uncertainties

Focalization is an approach for localizing an acoustic source when there are uncertainties in the sound speed or other environmental parameters [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 90, 1410–1422 (1991)]. The original work on focalization was based on deterministic parameters, but the concept was recently applied to problems involving uncertainties associated with internal waves [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115, 2550 (2004)]. Due to a parameter hierarchy in which source position outranks environmental parameters, it is often possible to localize a source without determining the true environmental parameters. This is a very fortunate situation, especially when dealing with stochastic parameters that would be essentially impossible to determine. Focalization is currently being extended to problems involving uncertainties in both deterministic and stochastic parameters. [Work sponsored by ONR.]