Parameter estimation of underwater impulsive noise with the Class B model

The statistical characteristic of ocean ambient noise plays an important role in developing underwater signal processors. Considering that the noise in shallow water shows the impulsive nature, non‐Gaussian noise models are usually applied to model the ocean ambient noise. In this study, the ocean ambient noise is modelled by using the Middleton Class B model, which can be decomposed into Gaussian and non‐Gaussian models. Then, the parameters of Class B model are estimated based on the least‐square estimation method, which can be deduced by using the characteristic function of the Middleton Class B model. The processing results of simulated data and real data indicate that the presented method well estimates the parameters of Class B modelled noise. Besides, it further shows that the Middleton Class B model is suitable for modelling the impulsive noise in shallow water.