A cluster-based direct source localization approach for large-aperture horizontal line arrays

In this paper, the problem of source localization using one-step direct position determination (DPD) approaches with large-aperture horizontal line arrays is considered. In practice, it may be difficult to keep the array configuration and overlarge inter-element spacing may cause the split beam problem when decentralized DPD approaches are applied. A cluster-based coherent MUSIC DPD approach is proposed to handle the unfavourable array configuration. The large-aperture array is divided into several small-aperture arrays, which form a coherent cluster to keep the largest covariance lag unchanged. Experimental results with the SWellEx96 data demonstrate the performance gain achieved by cluster-based coherent processing.