CORTANA CORPORATION — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N211-018

Description

This proposal evaluates the feasibility of detecting transient electromagnetic signals and/or perturbations provided by submarines during normal operations. The specific example considered is the production of electroacoustic signals in the atmosphere caused by impulsive acoustic pulses emanating from submarine control surfaces. Feasibility of the phenomenology will be assessed by creating and exercising an end-to-end model of the process including: acoustic radiation, acoustic transmission, anomalous transmission across the water/air interface, excitation of layers of atmospheric space charge, and radiation of electric and magnetic fields into the atmosphere.  The feasibility to detect weak signals in the ambient atmospheric electric field will be assessed by the critical evaluation of current and emerging sensor technologies and in the context of known characteristics of the ambient field.