This study addresses the problem of determining optimal design of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) systems for detecting and localizing whale calls in real-time in variable-noise environments. The performance of various PAM system is assessed using the detection theory and simulation modeling applied to the context of North Atlantic right whale (NARW) upcalls in feeding grounds and noisy shipping corridor of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Realistic simulations are performed using an estimated NARW upcall source level (SL), the actual shipping traffic, measured local fleet ship SLs, and transmission loss (TL) from a regional 2.5-D propagation model accounting for the bathymetric and environmental structures. The comparisons consider single-hydrophone and hydrophone-array PAM systems, mounted on buoys, gliders, or cabled to shore and three families of NARW upcall detectors. The targeted performance is a low false-alarm rate of 1 per day and a detection probability > 0.5. The time-frequency-based detector offers the best trade-off between detection performance and robustness against NARW upcall variability. The effective detection ranges are ∼ 15 times lower with single-hydrophone systems compared to hydrophone-arrays, whose beamforming enhances the signal in the upcall direction while damping interfering discrete noise from nearby transiting ships in other directions. Detecting and localizing NARWs in the large target areas (>10000-km² scale) is possible with a few well-located arrays of 10–20 hydrophones, which appears as the optimal cost/performance trade-off.

这项研究解决了确定无源声学监控（PAM）系统的最佳设计的问题，该系统可在可变噪声环境中实时检测和定位鲸鱼的鸣叫。使用检测理论和模拟模型对各种PAM系统的性能进行评估，这些理论和模拟模型适用于圣劳伦斯湾的饲喂场和嘈杂的航运走廊中的北大西洋露脊鲸（NARW）上水道。使用估算的NARW上行源水平（SL），实际的运输流量，测量的本地舰队船舶SL以及来自测深和环境结构的区域2.5-D传播模型的传输损耗（TL），可以进行逼真的模拟。比较中考虑了安装在浮标，滑翔机，或电缆连接到岸上和NARW上行探测器的三个系列。目标性能是每天1次的低错误警报率和> 0.5的检测概率。基于时间频率的检测器在检测性能和针对NARW上行变化性的鲁棒性之间提供了最佳折衷。与水听器阵列相比，单水听器系统的有效检测范围低约15倍，后者的波束成形增强了上行方向上的信号，同时抑制了来自附近过境船舶在其他方向上的离散噪声。在较大目标区域（> 10000 km）中检测和定位NARW 基于时间频率的检测器在检测性能和针对NARW上行变化性的鲁棒性之间提供了最佳折衷。与水听器阵列相比，单水听器系统的有效检测范围低约15倍，后者的波束成形增强了上行方向上的信号，同时抑制了来自附近过境船舶在其他方向上的离散噪声。在较大目标区域（> 10000 km）中检测和定位NARW 基于时间频率的检测器在检测性能和针对NARW上行变化性的鲁棒性之间提供了最佳折衷。与水听器阵列相比，单水听器系统的有效检测范围低约15倍，后者的波束成形增强了上行方向上的信号，同时抑制了来自附近过境船舶在其他方向上的离散噪声。在较大目标区域（> 10000 km）中检测和定位NARW^2个比例）可以通过几个位置良好的10–20水听器阵列实现，这似乎是最佳的成本/性能折衷。