PFI-TT: Compact, Coherent, Hydrophone Array Systems for Real-Time, Instantaneous, Wide-Area, Ocean Acoustic Monitoring from Wind Farms and Other Ocean Platforms

This Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project provides technology to observe wide areas of the ocean and other underwater environments rapidly via passive acoustics. There is tremendous need for the Passive Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (POAWRS) technology implemented with coherent hydrophone arrays, which are underwater microphones designed to detect and analyze sound in water. The system will have diverse applications like ocean environmental assessment and monitoring before, during, and after wind farm installations. These applications include offshore hydrocarbon prospecting, biological and ecosystem scientific experimentation, coastal and maritime security, and offshore recreational activities, such as whale watching and fishing. The POAWRS technology is like satellite remote sensing. The breadth and depth of coverage from POAWRS has potential to revolutionize ocean sensing, making the ocean transparent so that discoveries are made more efficiently with informed decisions for sustainable use and stewardship of the oceans. Coherent hydrophone array technologies reside in the domain of large defense contractors, and this project aims to make the technology more affordable and available to the U.S. blue economy, commerce, academia, security, ocean management and conservation. This project will translate the POAWRS technology for commercialization by developing two versions that are compact, energy efficient, cost-effective and user-friendly. The first example will be a stationary, 3D, coherent hydrophone array system suitable for installation on a fixed platform, such as a wind farm. The second example will be a compact, towable, 1D, coherent hydrophone array for deployment on a wide range of ocean vessels. An inhouse, multi-channel compact and pressure-tolerant Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) system will be developed with small form factor for embedding in slender tubing that will be available for other ocean applications. The towable array design will be re-engineered with a smaller winch to fit on the deck space of a wider class of vessels to increase customer base. The POAWRS research software will be translated and packaged with graphical user interfaces for commercialization. Current standard underwater acoustic sensors have small areal coverage, no directionality, and limited or no real-time capability. In contrast, POAWRS provides continental-shelf scale sensing in real-time including bearing estimation and localization of sound sources. POAWRS takes advantage of advances in computer vision, machine learning, and computational acceleration to provide a general purpose ocean sensor for diverse applications in industries of our blue economy, academia, and security. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.