Samenvatting

The author investigates how acoustic information about the seabed can be obtained from bottom-reflected shipping noise. An innovative idea is the use of sound sources of opportunity. When expeditionary forces enter shallow or confined waters, the environment has a great influence on the performance of platforms, sensors and weapon systems. For this reason, environmental knowledge is regarded as one of the key factors in making decisions on the course of action and asset allocation. For naval oceanography the main objective is to provide forces with a competitive advantage over adversaries by exploiting the current and future state of the environment. The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) possesses various sensor performancemodels and tactical decision aids for its combat systems. Many environmental input parameters can be provided in advance by the Netherlands Hydrographical Office (nautical charting) and the METOC office of CODAM (environmental briefing docketsand databases). Some parameters are measured or sampled at sea, such as weather conditions, water temperature and underwater ambient noise. For expeditionary operations it is likely that a priori knowledge about the environment is limited and outdated. Therefore there is a need for tools that enable hydrographers or naval oceanographers embedded with the forces to collect and validate environmental information at sea.