Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder and Low Frequency Analysis and Recording (LOFAR) are the equipment and process respectively for presenting a visual spectrum representation of low frequency sounds in a

time–frequency analysis In signal processing, time–frequency analysis comprises those techniques that study a signal in both the time and frequency domains simultaneously, using various time–frequency representations. Rather than viewing a 1-dimensional signal (a fun ...

. The process was originally applied to fixed surveillance passive antisubmarine

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

systems and later to

sonobuoy A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a small expendable sonar buoy dropped from aircraft or ships for anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic research. Sonobuoys are typically around in diameter and long. When floating on t ...

and other systems. Originally the analysis was electromechanical and the display was produced on electrostatic recording paper, a Lofargram, with stronger frequencies presented as lines against background noise. The analysis migrated to digital and both analysis and display were digital after a major system consolidation into centralized processing centers during the 1990s. Both the equipment and process had specific and classified application to fixed surveillance sonar systems and was the basis for the United States Navy's ocean wide Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) established in the early 1950s. The research and development of systems utilizing LOFAR was given the code name ''Project Jezebel''. The installation and maintenance of SOSUS was under the unclassified code name ''Project Caesar''. The principle was later applied to air, surface and submarine tactical sonar systems with some incorporating the name "Jezebel".

Origin

In 1949 when the US Navy approached the Committee for Undersea Warfare, an academic advisory group formed in 1946 under the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, to research antisubmarine warfare. As a result, the Navy formed a study group designated ''Project Hartwell'' under

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) leadership. The Hartwell panel recommended that spending of annually to develop systems to counter the Soviet submarine threat consisting primarily of a large fleet of diesel submarines. One recommendation was a system to monitor low-frequency sound in the

SOFAR channel The SOFAR channel (short for sound fixing and ranging channel), or deep sound channel (DSC), is a horizontal layer of water in the ocean at which depth the speed of sound is at its minimum. The SOFAR channel acts as a waveguide for sound, and low ...

using multiple listening sites equipped with

hydrophone A hydrophone () is a microphone designed for underwater use, for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones contains a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potential when subjected to a pressure change, such as a ...

s and a processing facility that could calculate submarine positions over hundreds of miles.The cited Project HARTWELL report first links arrays with fleet type submarines towing such an array in the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap then refers to potential exploitation of the deep sound channel low frequency sounds. The

Office of Naval Research The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is an organization within the United States Department of the Navy responsible for the science and technology programs of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Established by Congress in 1946, its mission is to plan ...

(ONR) then contracted with

American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

(AT&T), with its

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...

research and

Western Electric Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, ...

manufacturing elements, to develop a long range, passive detection system, based on bottom arrays of hydrophones. The proposed development was based on AT&T's sound spectrograph, which converted sound into a visual

spectrogram A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies of a signal as it varies with time. When applied to an audio signal, spectrograms are sometimes called sonographs, voiceprints, or voicegrams. When the data are represen ...

representing a

of sound that was developed for speech analysis and modified to analyze low-frequency underwater sounds. The proposed system offered such promise of long-range submarine detection that the Navy ordered immediate moves for implementation.

Application to undersea surveillance

A working model of the Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder was delivered in May 1951 which operated with real time analysis of a frequency band of 1 to 1/2 Hz. Along with the working model was a proposal for hydrophones, cables, processing systems and

beamforming Beamforming or spatial filtering is a signal processing technique used in sensor arrays for directional signal transmission or reception. This is achieved by combining elements in an antenna array in such a way that signals at particular angles ...

so that a hydrophone array could present multiple azimuthal beams to be displayed. Watch floor

Each system, from shore facility to the transducer array was a sonar set with the signal processing beginning as the array's signals were amplified, processed into beams by time delay and each beam processed by an electromechanical spectrum analyzer with the display being a sweep of the frequency spectrum's intensity burned across electrostatic recording paper moving on the time axis. The sweeps of the stylus recording the intensity of sound along the frequency axis formed a time record of background noise and specific frequency receptions that formed lines. When representing frequencies generated by propeller blades or machinery those could form a submarine or surface ship

signature A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, Handwriting, handwritt ...

that could be recognized and used to locate and identify the source. The frequency against time line can show frequency variations from a specific source and thus changes in behavior of the source. With regard to vessels that could be speed or other changes, including a Doppler shift indicating direction changes, having an effect of frequencies received.The lofargram illustration at the top illustrates such a distinctive frequency shift in a line. After successful tests with a U.S. submarine using a test array at

Eleuthera Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of the The Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incor ...

the Navy ordered six LOFAR systems for installation. The shore stations where the operational array and cable, composing a surveillance sonar set, terminated, were given the generic and non revealing term Naval Facilitity (NAVFAC). The watch floor of a NAVFAC had banks of displays, one for each beam of the array. The first phase of installations was largely complete during the years 1954 and 1958. A system wide signal processing upgrade began in September 1963 in which the electromechanical analyzer was replaced by digital spectrum analysis with an upgrade of the display recorders. The spectrum analysis system was further upgraded with systems retrofitted between 1966 and 1967. A new system installed in 1973 began a general upgrade to full digital signal analysis that continued into 1981. That system, using a high capacity digital computer, fully digitized the spectrum analysis and had some automatic detection of acoustic signatures. The system of electrostatic displays was not replaced by digital displays until the 1990s consolidation of the array systems terminating at individual Naval Facilities being routed into central processing facilities.

Other antisubmarine warfare applications

A parallel research and development effort to explore applications was given the name ''Project Jezebel''. The origin of the project name was explained by Dr. Robert Frosch to Senator Stennis during a 1968 hearing. It was because of the low frequencies, "about the A below middle C on the piano" (about 100-150 cycles) and "

Jezebel Jezebel ()"Jezebel"
(US) and

" being chosen because "she was of low character." Jezebel and LOFAR branched into the localization of submarines with the AN/SSQ-28 passive omnidirectional Jezebel-LOFAR

introduced in 1956 for use by the air antisubmarine forces. That sonobuoy gave the aircraft cued by SOSUS access to the same low frequency and LOFAR capability as SOSUS. Bell Telephone Laboratories time delay correlation was used to fix target position with two or more sonobuoys in a technique named COrrelation Detection And Ranging (CODAR). This, and later specialized, sonobuoys equipped with a small explosive charge could be used in an active mode to detect the echo off the target. The active mode was named by engineers developing the technique "Julie" after a burlesque dancer whose "performance could turn passive buoys active."

Footnotes

References

{{reflist Anti-submarine warfare Military sonar equipment of the United States Signal processing Time–frequency analysis