Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation June 25 - 27, 2008, Chongqing, China

A Statistical Method for Underwater Target Detection

Keman Liu , Jinglin Xiang
College of Marine Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian 710072, China ( coreman2005@126.com )
HTU UTH

Abstract: This paper presents a statistical method to detect target underwater based on the statistical properties of the number of zero crossings and the amplitude of noise over a unit time interval. A new decision statistic is defined as the ratio of the mean value of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment when the lines appear near the lower frequency limit. Approximate expressions of the Pd and Pfa are derived. Experimental results taken from the sea
B B B B

number of zero crossings and energy distribution of the ship noise and ocean noise in the input wave over a specific time interval, and derive an approximate expressions the probability of detection under a given false alarm probability. In Section 3, experimental results on real-world data are presented based on the proposed method. Finally, in Section 4, the performance results are summarized and significant conclusions are presented. 2 Detection theories 2.1 Statistical properties of the number of zero crossings and the energy distribution of the ship noise and ocean noise A major contribution to the understanding of the zero-crossing theory was made by Rice[6], who investigated the distribution of the zero crossings of the stationary Gaussian noise function y(t )and derived a formula for the population value, A, the average number of zero crossings per unit time:
P P

show that the proposed method can achieve 4~7dB suppression of the noise in comparison with the energy detection method, and can achieve 5~8dB enhancement of the target signal in comparison with zero-crossing detection method. Key Words: zero crossing detection; broadband energy detection; Gaussian distributions; ambient noise

1 Introduction The rapid increase in world shipping results in an increase in low-frequency ambient noise at an average rate of about 1/2 dB per year[1], while the level of the ship noise decreases at an average rate of about 1~2 dB per year. This makes it very difficult to detect the underwater targets. In order to improve detection performance of passive emissions from quiet sources in littoral waters, we focus on the statistical properties of the number of zero crossings and the amplitude of noise over a unit time interval if a target is present. At low signal-to-noise
P P

+ f 2 ( f ) df A = 2 0 + ( f ) df 0

1/ 2

(1)

Where ( f ) is the spectral-density function of y ( t ) . N .BoM and B.W.Conoly studied the case of band-limited white Gaussian noise with a superimposed sine-wave signal of frequency f s further and gave the average number of zero crossings per unit time expressed as:
1 2 2 2 3 f L + f L f H + f H + rf s A = 2 1+ r

ratio (SNR), traditional energy detectors are inadequate because they take into account only the amplitude information. The same as the zero-crossing detection method, which only measures the change of expected number of zero-crossings over a unit time interval to detect the target[2][3] . If we take full advantage of the characteristic that the number of zero crossings over a unit time interval and the amplitude of noise may change if an additional signal is present, we should design a more effective detector. So, we define a new statistic as the ratio of the mean value of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment in order to maximize detection of quiet threats in shallow water. The structure of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 introduces the proposed method based on the characteristic of the
P P

(2)

where f L and f H are the cut-off frequencies of the band-pass filter, and r is the signal-to-noise ratio. The selection of frequency band for analysis depends on the signal and the characteristics of ambient noise. Generally, when the lines should appear near the lower or the upper frequency limit of the frequency band, detection may occur. Otherwise, no detection may occur, even under high conditions [7]. For a fixed frequency band, the number of zero crossings will decrease when the lines appear near the lower frequency limit. On the
P P

978-1-4244-2114-5/08/$25.00 2008 IEEE.

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contrary, the number of zero crossings will increase when the lines appear near the upper frequency limit. When the lines appear in the middle of the frequency band, it is very hard to detect signal. When the target is present or approaching, not only the number of zero crossing but also the energy will change. Broadband energy will change with the amplitude of input noise, though the number of zero crossings is insensitive to it. For the input noise to be analyzed, ship noise and ambient noise are the two important sources. Ship noise intensity depends upon the proximity of the receiver to shipping lanes, ship-traffic density, and the length of time passing ships spend in acoustic convergence zones. In the frequency range of interest, i.e. 10 to 1000 Hz, shipping and wind noises are two major components for

the ambient noise field. From 30 to 300 Hz, distant shipping noise is the main source, while wind-generating noise is the main source for the frequency interval from 500 to 1000 Hz [8][9]. For a vessel, the acoustic power in the frequency field is mainly distributed from 10 and 1000 Hz. The lower frequency limit of the spectrum is dominated by machinery lines and blade rate lines of the propeller which is below 100Hz. As for the submarines, the frequency is below 200 ~300 Hz.
P P

2.2

Proposed method for underwater target detection A block diagram of the joint method of zero crossing detection

and broadband energy detection is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1

A block diagram of he joint method

The model of a new detector based on the joint method of zero crossing detection and broadband energy detection includes an energy detector and a zero crossing detector. It is assumed that the processed signal y ( n ) is pre-filtered by a band-pass filter, Ei is the average energy in each bin and i is the average of the number of zero crossings over a specific time, is the ratio of i over Ei , and is a suitable detection threshold for the given probability of false alarm. If the noise has a flat band-limited power density spectrum, the method can detect the target using a measurement of the average power and the number of zero crossings in a specific time interval of the received signal. When the lines appear near the lower frequency limit, we define a new variable as the ratio of the mean value for the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment. When the lines appear near the upper frequency limit, we define a new variable as the products of the mean of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment. This paper emphasizes on the problem of the lines, which appear near the lower frequency limit and we present the simulation and experimental results of the two case. According to 2.1, the number of zero crossings will decrease as the target is passing the hydrophone when the lines appear near the lower frequency limit. For a large time-bandwidth products, the number of zero crossings in a specific time interval can be taken as a Gaussian distribution. The probability of density distribution is shown

in Figure 2.

Given an observed data sequence y ( n ) , we divide y ( n ) into k segments of length N . For a specific segment i , the hypothesis model becomes
H 0 : yi ( n ) = ( n ) H1 : yi ( n ) = s ( n ) + ( n )

Fig. 2 the probability density under the two hypothesis

(3)

Where s ( n ) is the signal and ( n ) is the ambient noise. Since the number of the zero crossings in the observed time interval changes a lot more than the variance of the ambient noise. N.BoM and B.W.Conoly have proved that the number of zero crossings has a Gaussian distribution and the probability of density function of the number of zero crossings is

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H : p ( zi / H 0 ) = 0 H1 : p ( zi / H1 ) =

( z )2 1 exp i 0 2 2 2 ( z )2 1 exp i 1 2 2 2

expressed as follows:

(4)

2 H0 : ~ N 0 , 2 E0 E0 2 H1 : ~ N 1 , 2 E1 E1

(6)

where 0 and 1 are the average of the number of zero crossings under two hypotheses respectively. In the absence of much knowledge concerning the signal, it seems appropriate to use an energy detector to determine the presence of a signal. The energy detector measures the energy in the input wave over a specific time interval. Both the energy of the signal and its form are considered in the proposed method, so it is obvious that the proposed method is superior to that of zero crossing detection or broadband energy detection method. Generally, the energy over a specific time interval has a chi-square distribution [11]. Since the energy is integrated for a set time period before the accumulated energy is compared with a threshold , and the spectral content of the ambient noise is slowly varied, the energy of the received signal does not vary too much when the received signal is refreshed. We can set a proper detection threshold ET , which depends on the probability of false alarm. For a special segment i, the detection is a test of the following two hypotheses
P P

Thus, under the NeymanPearson criterion, d is the distance between the means of the two densities [11]
P P

E2 d 2 = 0 1 12 E0 E1

(7)

Then likelihood ratio test is

( (

2 E 2 k 1 exp 0 2 i 0 k /2 2 i = 0 E0 2 2 < th 2 2k E 2 k 1 E1 1 exp 1 2 i 2 k /2 2 i = 0 E1 2 2 E0 k

(8)

After canceling common terms and taking the logarithm, we have

H 0 : Ei = E1 Ei ET H1 : Ei = E1 Ei > ET

i = 1, 2"" k i = 1, 2"" k

(5)

1 k 1 1 2 ln th i < + 2 E0 + E1 = k i =0 0 1 k 0 - 1 E0 E1
The following equations can approximate the Pd and Pfa of the detector.
Pfa = 1
Pd = 1
+

(9)

Where E0 is the energy of ambient noise, and E1 is the energy of the signal-plus-noise, simply expressed as follows:
E0 = 1 N
N 1 n =0

2 [ n ] , E1 =

1 N

N 1 n =0

( s [ n] + [ n])

0 / E0 f ( / H0 )d = 1 Q / E0

(10)

Since the mean of the distribution of the ambient noise varies in a large range in practice, we cannot set a fixed detection threshold to ensure a constant false alarm rate. The proposed method [10], which sets detection threshold utilizing real-world data, can be applied in this situation. Define the new variable = i / Ei as the ratio of the mean of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment. Because it is the ratio of two random variables, it is a random variable itself. So has a Gaussian distribution. With our proposed method, both the number of zero crossings and the energy are used as feature parameters. The mean and the standard deviation of the distribution of the received signal under H1 are smaller than that of under H 0 respectively. The energy of the received signal does not vary too much in the adjacent segments, so the standard deviation in H1 is approximately equal to that under H 0 . Then the new variable under the two hypotheses can be

1 / E1 f ( / H 1 )d = 1 Q / E1

(11)

When Pfa is given ,then =

0
E0

E0

Q 1 (1 Pfa ) .

Substituting (10) into (11), we have

Pd = 1

f ( / H 1 )d

1 / E1 = 1 Q / E1 0 / E 0 1 / E 1 + / E 0 Q 1 (1 P fa = 1 Q / E1 E 1 Q 1 Q 1 (1 P fa ) + E0 d
2

(12)

where

the

function

Q ( x)

is

defined

as

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Q ( x) =

exp t 2 dt .

( )

is superior to that of zero crossing detection method and broadband energy detection method. 3 Simulation and Experimental Results In order to test the new algorithm, we will apply the real sea trial data to test the performance of the new detectors. The passing characteristic of ship noise is shown in Fig.5. Each bin length of data to be analyzed is 25 seconds. The sample frequency is 4000Hz. The simulation and experimental results are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig.7.

The variable is a random variable whose probability density depends on which hypothesis is true. The typical pdf is shown as Fig.1. From simple changes of variables in the integrals (10) and (12), it can be shown that the probabilities Pd and Pfa depend on the three parameters , E1 / E0 and d .

Fig.3 The detection index d versus probability of a false alarm with different E1 to E0 Fig.5 Passing characteristic of ship noise

Equations (10) and (12) have shown the relationship among the probability of a false alarm Pfa , the probability of detection Pd and the number of zero crossings under H1 and H 0 . According to equation (10) and (12), the results can also be plotted in the form of Pfa versus d with the ration of the E1 to E0 as a parameter. This is done in Fig.3. From Fig. 3, we can find that with the increase of the ration of the E1 to E0 , the detection index d will also increase for a fix probability of a false alarm. Since the Q ( x ) is a monotonic decreasing function for a fix probability of a false alarm, then small increase in the ratio of energy under H1 can lead to a significant change of the probability of detection.

Fig.6

Results for zero-crossing detection method and proposed method when the lines in low frequency

Fig.4 The probability of detection versus detection index d with different E1 to E0 Fig.7 Results for energy detection method and

The receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) of the method of zero crossing detection and the joint detection method are compared in Fig.4. We can conclude that the performance of proposed method

proposed method when the lines in low frequency

When lines appear in low frequency, the number of zero crossings and the energy of each segment are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig.

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7 respectively. From Fig. 6, when the target is presented, the number of zeros crossings of the proposed method change significant than that of the zero crossings method. It indicates that using = i Ei as statistical characteristic, is better than using the mean of the number of zero crossings as statistical characteristic. From Fig. 7, when the target is present, the energy of each segment of the proposed method change little than that of the energy detection method. But the noise have been suppressed significant. It indicates that using the ratio of the mean of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment as statistical characteristic, is better than using the mean of the number of zero crossings as statistical characteristic. When lines appear in high frequency, we can conclude that using the product of the mean of the number of zero crossings and the energy of each segment as statistical characteristic is better than using the ratio of the mean of the number of zero crossings to the energy of each segment as statistical characteristic. it is clearly observed that the joint detection method is superior to that of zero crossing detection method 3~5dB. In our case, taking into account the length of records available and the observed variation of the spread in the samples with sample length, an interval of 25 seconds is found to be a suitable compromise. The number of zero crossings in a 25-second interval can be considered as normally distributed. If we select a different time interval, it may attain a different result. Therefore, the observed time is a very important parameter for the new method. 4 Conclusions We present a new method for detecting signals in ambient noise. The new method depends on the zero-crossing information and the energy information of the input noise. Approximate expressions of the Pd and Pfa are derived. The optimal detectors presented in this paper can be readily applied to lines in high frequency range. In this case, the number of zero crossings may increase as the target gets closer, so we can use = i Ei instead of = i / Ei .Our research has shown that the proposed detection method has a bright future in processing the underwater target radiated noise. REFERENCES
[1] R. Donald, Ship sources of ambient noise, IEEE Oceanic Engineering 2005, 30(2):257-260 >@ Zhu Hong. Xiang Jinglin, Signal zero-crossing detection with its application on fuse technique, ACTA ,ACUSTICA.1995, 20(3):218-220 >@ Yang Yichun. Zhang Wenhui, A study on distribution of zero-pass ratio of acoustic fuze target signal, Nanjing university of science and technology , 2000, 24(3):249-252,260 [4] V. I. Kostylev, Energy detection of a signal with random amplitude, International Conference on Communication. (ICC), 2002, 3:16061610 [5] H. URKOWITZ, Energy detection of unknown deterministic signals, in Proceedings of the IEEE April,1967, 55(4):523-531 [6] S.O. Rise, Statistical properties of a sine wave plus random noise Bell Syet.

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Tech.,1948, 27:109~157 N. BoM, B.W. Conoly, Zero-crossing shift as a detection method, Acoustical Society of America,1970, 47(2):1407-1408 [8] R. J. Urick, Principles of underwater sound for engineers, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1967 [9] A.J Perrone. etc., Analysis technique for classifying wind-and ship-generated noise characteristics, Acoustical Society of America., 1975, 58(6):1186-1189 [10] Xiang Jing-lin. Zhu Hong, Research on prediction of line component by zeros-crossing detection, Underwater Weapon,1993, (3):15 21. [11] S.M. Kay, Fundamentals of statistical signal processing Volume II: detection theory, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,1998

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