Underwater Navigation Using Location-Dependent Signatures

This paper investigates the benefits of a multisensor fusion methodology for underwater navigation using location-dependent signatures, or geotags. The proposed coordinate-free system uses both natural and man-made signals, as well as transient events to extract location-dependent signatures for navigation and guidance. Natural signals include the geomagnetic field, gravity field, bathymetric features, and naturally-occurring very low frequency radio signals. Man-made acoustic sources of opportunity include drainage outlets and pump stations in littoral zones and particularly in harbors, which can be explored to serve as underwater beacons for navigation. This paper models a multisensor coordinate-free system, characterizes various signals for underwater navigation, and evaluates the Multisensor Underwater Signature-based Navigation (MUSNav) system in terms of accuracy, availability, and continuity of the navigation solution.