In contemporary naval operations, underwater radiated noise (URN) from vessels is a critical factor determining detection probability by enemy forces, directly affecting vessel survivability. However, the simultaneous progression of vessel noise r...
In contemporary naval operations, underwater radiated noise (URN) from vessels is a critical factor determining detection probability by enemy forces, directly affecting vessel survivability. However, the simultaneous progression of vessel noise reduction and increasing ocean ambient noise due to climate change has exposed limitations of traditional single-sensor measurement systems. This study developed URN measurement and noise source localization techniques utilizing a vertical line array (VLA). A nested array structure enabled broadband measurements with a minimal number of sensors, while LFM signal-based underwater acoustic telemetry provided real-time range and bearing estimation between the vessel and array for near-field focused beamforming. Field validation experiments demonstrated measurement accuracy within 2 dB compared to reference hydrophones and background noise reduction exceeding 10 dB in high-frequency bands. For noise source localization, a super-resolution technique based on compressive sensing theory was developed. To overcome performance degradation of conventional CBF, MVDR, and MUSIC methods in multipath environments, an -norm minimization approach exploiting signal sparsity was applied, incorporating multiple measurement and multiple dictionary techniques to enable accurate localization in multiple source scenarios of slowly maneuvering vessels. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed compressive sensing approach exhibited superior performance compared to conventional methods even in challenging conditions of SNR -15 dB and complex multipath environments, achieving significantly lower localization errors when source separations exceeded 8 m.