Geomagnetic Reference Sensor System (GRSS) for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Topic No.: N08-009 Topic Title: Geomagnetic Reference Sensor System (GRSS) for Air Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Proposal No.: N081-009-0325 Firm: Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation 65 West Street Road Building C Warminster, Pennsylvania 18974 Contact: James McEachern Phone: (215) 675-4900 Web Site: www.navmar.com Abstract: This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I study deals with the development of a noise-cancellation technique that employs a reference sensor to reduce geomagnetic noise at an airborne MAD sensor. This effort will include a survey of the various magnetic-field sensors that meet the requirements for use in an air-dropped, undersea geomagnetic reference sensor system (GRSS). The sensor system will comprise an expendable buoy with a total-field magnetometer that will be deployed by the ASW aircraft immediately prior to the localization phase of the mission. Various suspension systems and deployment schemes will be studied to determine the optimum configuration for this application. The performance enhancement will be validated for various geometries, search platforms, targets, geomagnetic-noise levels, and geology-noise levels. Benefits: The proposed research will provide the US Navy with an affordable geomagnetic reference sensor packaged in an A-size buoy. The geomagnetic noise measured by this reference sensor will be subtracted from the signal received at the primary sensor, an airborne magnetic-anomaly-detection system. Significant improvements in detection range of the search sensor may be achieved through the use of adaptive noise cancellation. The lower noise floor will reduce the prosecution time and cost. This approach provides much more effective utilization of the limited ASW assets in the Navy inventory. Other applications for this type of sensor, which are more relevant to the Army, DARPA, or Homeland Security, include launching multiple buoys near areas of surface vehicular traffic in remote areas. The sensors could act as a reference for each other and increase the array detection range substantially. Also, if both sensors detect the vehicle sequentially, the direction could be gleaned as well. This would greatly enhance the ability to detect and track potentially hostile surface craft in the vicinity of high value units or important port and harbor areas. Return