Detection and Recognition Models of Dolphin Sonar Systems

Research has shown that dolphins possess highly sophisticated sonar capabilities. Several reviews and papers presented at the second international meeting on Animal Sonar Systems (Busnel and Fish, 1980) elucidated the sonar capabilities of dolphins. Nactigall (1980) discussed object size, shape and material composition discrimination by echolocating odontocetes. Murchison (1980) presented data on target detection and range resolution capabilities of Tursiops truncatus Au (1980) discussed signals used by Tursiops in open waters. Data on target recognition of cylinders with varying wall thicknesses and material composition (Au and Hammer, 1980) and on sphere-cylinder discrimination (Au et al., 1980) were also presented. These and other studies indicate that dolphin sonars are superior to any man-made sonar systems for short ranges (two to three hundred meters), shallow water (typical of bays, inlets, and coastal waters). The dolphin sonar may be considered the premier sonar for the detection and recognition of slow moving or stationary targets in shallow waters where the reverberation and noise background levels are high.