Integrated marine mammal monitoring and protection system: Gray whale target strength measurements

With a broader objective of establishing a global solution for systematic assessment and protection of the marine environment, one of the central objectives of this work is to distinguish whale backscattered responses from the ones generated by the environmental clutter in a waveguide. Furthermore, it aims to identify and analyze the target signature features that are necessary for enhanced active sonar detection and classification of marine mammals. Over the years there have been very few documented attempts to capture and analyze the backscattering response of whales using an active sonar system. Nevertheless, whales, mostly owing to their size, their motion, and the aspect dependence of their backscattered field, possess desirable properties that help distinguish their scattered response from clutter and other environment related false alarms. As an initial step, data collected during the Marine Mammal Active Sonar Test (MAST04) is presented, and long‐range gray whale target strength measurements are o...