• Numerical Models
• Signal Processing
• System Identification
• Underwater Acoustics
• Underwater Robotics

The potential of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) working as a team in sampling, monitoring and surveillance of the marine environment has been realized since quite a long time. One of the most relevant obstacle to their operational implementation resides in the limitations of the acoustic channel for inter-vehicle communications. Underwater acoustic modeling and simulation plays an important role in predicting possible losses and transmission failures between them, and underwater sound propagation can be precisely measured or estimated. In this thesis, sound speed data from a real experiment (CommsNet13) were used to simulate environmental conditions and analyze acoustic communication between an USBL-vehicle on the sea surface and an acoustic modem on the sea bottom, in order achieve an effective geometry of transmission for future trials.