Impact of operational uncertainty on acoustic time difference of arrival multilateration performance

This work addresses the influence of operational uncertainty on acoustic time difference of arrival (TDOA) multilateration systems, commonly used in source localization applications. A key challenge during the planning phase of multilateration applications is predicting system performance and resilience to uncertainty, particularly in topographically complex operational environments. A deterministic numerical approach using matrix factorization methods, including rank-revealing QR decomposition, is presented to evaluate system performance and assess sensor positions under specific conditions. Through path-based wave propagation simulations and experiments, we conduct sensitivity analyses to investigate the impact of timing inaccuracies, terrain features, and meteorological conditions on TDOA-based acoustic multilateration. The results are validated by experiments and calculations on the localization of shooters using sparsely distributed ground sensors at the military Lehnin training area, Germany. [Work supported by BAAINBw/WTD-91.]