Cramer Rao Lower Bound for Underwater Range Estimation with Noisy Sound Speed Profile

TL;DR

This paper derives the Cramer Rao lower bound for underwater range estimation considering noisy sound speed profiles, highlighting the dominant impact of sound speed measurement noise over long distances.

Contribution

It provides a detailed CRB analysis for underwater range estimation incorporating noisy sound speed measurements, a novel aspect in underwater acoustics.

Findings

Sound speed measurement noise significantly affects range estimation at long distances.

The impact of noise depends on node positions, sound speed profile, and sampling depth.

More sound speed samples can reduce the CRB, improving estimation accuracy.

Abstract

In this paper, the Cramer Rao bound (CRB) for range estimation between two underwater nodes is calculated under a Gaussian noise assumption on the measurements. The nodes can measure their depths, their mutual time of flight, and they have access to noisy sound speed samples at different depths. The effect of each measurement on the CRB will be analyzed, and it will be shown that for long distances, the effect of the sound speed measurement noise is dominant, and its impact depends on the positions of the nodes, actual sound speed profile, the number of sound speed samples, and the depths at which the sound speed samples are gathered.