Seabed classification and source localization with Gaussian processes and machine learning

Workshop '97 data are employed for seabed classification and source range estimation. The data are acoustic fields computed at vertically separated receivers for various ranges and different environments. Gaussian processes are applied for denoising the data and predicting the field at virtual receivers, sampling the water column densely within the array aperture. The enhanced fields are used in combination with machine learning to map the signals to one of 15 sediment-range classes (corresponding to three environments and five ranges). The classification results after using Gaussian processes for denoising are superior to those when noisy workshop data are employed.