Optimisation of underwater acoustic sensor networks

The oceans are the scene of intense economical and industrial activities. It is becoming even more competitive with recent military activities and the upcoming development of marine renewable energies. All of these activities have a significant impact on marine ecosystems and must be carefully evaluated for any maritime planning. The marine environment is also a very effective medium for the propagation of acoustic waves over long distances, depending on the frequency, the source level, the static (bathymetry) and the dynamic (hydrology) oceanographic conditions. Such conditions make acoustic sensors primary candidates for underwater investigations and the distribution of mixed sensors with various sensitivities, frequency bandwidths or positioning can be optimized for detection, localization or monitoring purposes. This contribution aims to present a methodology based on evolutionary algorithms which considers the overall physical state of the marine environment and determines the optimal configurations of mixed underwater acoustic networks. The relevance of various objectives, or metrics, can be discussed, as well as specific search operators for crossover and mutation based on preliminary results.