Spherical scattering of superpositions of localized waves

Abstract

Localized wave (LW) solutions to the homogeneous wave equation represent broadband focused interference patterns whose focusing properties have been demonstrated to be superior to those of equivalent monochromatic (i.e. CW) solutions, in the context of multi-time-derivative transmit-receive systems. The focused, broadband nature of these pulses make them ideal candidates for use in remote sensing. The broadband nature of these LWs allows for enhanced target parameter extraction while the superior focusing properties ensure that a relatively large amount of energy reaches the target. -- The spherically backscattered spectra of acoustic realizations of LWs are investigated for purposes of remote sensing. The LWs are acoustically launched with a synthetic hydrophone array. The backscattered spectra of several different sized steel and aluminum spheres have been obtained. Analysis indicates that the sphere radius can be readily extracted from these spectra. The backscattered spectra of steel sphere pairs have also been obtained. Preliminary analysis indicates that the single-sphere and double-sphere backscattered spectra have similar characteristics. However, it is questionable whether or not analysis of multi-sphere backscattered spectra will produce useful experimental data for a practical L W remote sensing system.