Positioning Issues in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

In this paper we discuss challenging issues related to positioning in underwater acoustic networks focussing in the major goal of establishing a common coordinate system which should allow applications to perform collaborative sensing tasks such as identification, detection, and/or tracking of sea targets. A general description of the most important positioning methods and algorithms which have been proposed, developed and employed in the underwater environment is provided along with their major advantages and requirements. Also the applicability to the underwater acoustic scenario is discussed. Finally we argue the need of a new ad-hoc positioning scheme adapted to the underwater acoustic environment and an outlook of our future work is given.