Time of Arrival Data Fusion for Source Localization

The paper presents two sensor fusion algorithms that were utilized in a wireless sensor network-based acoustic countersniper system. The technique for fusing muzzle blast Time Of Arrival (TOA) data is able to eliminate multipath effects prevalent in urban environments and to resolve multiple simultaneous acoustic sources. The approach for fusing shockwave TOA data that are generated by supersonic projectiles is able to reconstruct the trajectory with an accuracy of 1 degree in both azimuth and elevation for long range shots. If a few muzzle blast detections are also available then accurate range estimation is also performed. The system performance was demonstrated multiple times at different MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) facilities of the US Army.