Eigenvalues of the noise covariance matrix in ocean waveguides

The eigenvalue (EV) spectra of the theoretical noise covariance matrix (CM) and observed sample CM provide information about the environment, source, and noise generation. This paper investigates these spectra for vertical line arrays (VLAs) and horizontal line arrays (HLAs) in deep and shallow water numerically. Empirically, the spectra are related to the width of the conventional beamforming output in angle space. In deep water, the HLA noise CM tends to be isotropic regardless of the sound speed profile. Thus, the EV spectrum approaches a step function. In contrast, the VLA noise CM is non-isotropic, and the EVs of the CM jump in two steps. The EVs before the first jump are due to sea surface noise, while those between the first and second jump are due to bottom-reflected noise. In shallow water, the VLA noise CM is affected by the environment (sound speed profile and seabed density, sound speed, attenuation, and layers) and array depth, the EVs have a more complicated structure. For Noise09 VLA experimental data, the noise sample CM EVs match the waveguide noise model better than the three-dimensional isotropic noise model.