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The localization of an acoustic source in a reverberant ocean waveguide continues to be an area of active interest within the TCSP. Recent advances to this problem include the in- clusion of realistic sparse constraints on the solution (e.g., Ferero and Baxley, 2014) in order to capture the relatively small number of acoustic sources that typically occupy an observed volume in an ocean waveguide. This example typi- fies many TCSP contributions because it illustrates the in- corporation of accurate prior model information to a large acoustic dataset inference problem while judiciously ex- ploiting computational resources.
Acoustic communication through complex and dynamic acoustic media continues to be an exciting area for the TCSP, with the shallow-water acoustic environment remaining an important focus of attention for our researchers. We con- tinue to explore the ability of an acoustic receiver to estimate the space- and time-varying acoustic response as this can of- ten be critical for optimal performance of a communication link. The essential properties of the shallow-water acoustic channel continue to be illuminated (Yang, 2012), and useful statistical models for capturing its dynamics coherently at the receiver are actively being pursued and developed for a range of applications from the very low signal-to-noise ratio and the low-throughput rate communication link (e.g. Gen- dron, 2016) to the very high frequency, short-range, high- throughput rate links (Song et al., 2009).
An Environment for
Peer-to-Peer Enrichment
The TCSP is also an environment within the ASA with a rich heritage in probabilistic modeling and inductive reason- ing (Xiang and Fackler, 2015). For analysts who are excited about the foundational underpinnings of inductive reason- ing that form the basis of modern statistical SP methods, the TCSP is a welcoming community where a free exchange of ideas takes place in an open and generous atmosphere. Experimental observations of acoustic phenomena are vital for our scientists and researchers both to better understand underlying theories in acoustics and to solve tangible and practical inference problems. We see observation as the foundation of our research and, just as important, essential to our peer scientific interaction. Because scientific progress comes about by consensus, the TCSP seeks to advance the language of this process and provide a common framework for scientists to reach a common understanding of the driv- ing mechanisms of diverse acoustic phenomena.
Conclusion
It is a genuinely exciting time for us within the TCSP where we see interaction and exchanges of ideas blossoming into more accurate methods for ever more challenging models and increasingly large datasets. As we look forward, we are inspired and motivated by our recent past and the standards of our ASA Silver Medalists Edmund Sullivan, Ted Birdsall, and Brian Ferguson. Their breadth of contribution and gen- erosity of spirit to SP in acoustics gives us confidence that this same spirit of enrichment will continue. The wide scope of problems that are presently being addressed provides both challenge and motivation. We are excited to advance meth- ods and models that take advantage of improved computa- tional resources in the hopes that the large acoustic datasets will be more completely heard and produce more accurate results. Ultimately, the goal of the TCSP is for these devel- opments to provide a more exact understanding of acoustic phenomena, leading to the betterment and enrichment of human life and well-being. In so doing, we hope to advance and provide an indispensable service to civil society. We hope you will join us.
Biosketch
Paul Gendron received his BS from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MS from Virginia Tech, and PhD from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, all in electrical engineering. He served as a staff scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory and the Space and Naval
Warfare Center Pacific and was an Office of Naval Research (ONR) visiting scientist to the Defence Research and Devel- opment Canada (DRDC)-Atlantic Research Centre in 2007. He is presently with the University of Massachusetts Dart- mouth. His interests include statistical signal processing for underwater surveillance and communications.
References
Adhikari, K., Buck, J. R., and Wage, K. E. (2014). Extending coprime sen- sor arrays to achieve the peak side lobe height of a full uniform linear array. EURASAIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing 2014, 148. doi:10.1186/1687-6180-2014-148.
Anderson, B. E. Pieczonka, L., Remillieux, M. C., Ulrich, T. J., and Le Bas, P.-Y. (2017). Stress corrosion crack depth investigation using the time re- versed elastic nonlinearity diagnostic. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 141, EL76-EL81.
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