This paper addresses the aperture limitation problem faced by array-equipped underwater gliders (UGs) in direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. A passive synthetic aperture (PSA) method for DOA estimation using a single hydrophone mounted on a UG is proposed. This method uses the motion of the UG to synthesize a linear array whose elements are positioned to acquire the target signal, thereby increasing the array aperture. The dead-reckoning method is used to determine the underwater trajectory of the UG, and the UG’s trajectory was corrected by the UG motion parameters, from which the array shape was adjusted accordingly and the position of the array elements was corrected. Additionally, array distortion caused by movement offsets due to ocean currents underwent linearization, reducing computational complexity. To validate the proposed method, a sea trial was conducted in the South China Sea using the Haiyi 1000 UG equipped with a hydrophone, and its effectiveness was demonstrated through the processing of the collected data. The performance of DOA estimation prior to and following UG trajectory correction was compared to evaluate the impact of ocean currents on target DOA estimation accuracy.

This paper addresses the aperture-limitation problem faced by array-equipped underwater gliders (UGs) in direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. A passive synthetic aperture (PSA) method for DOA estimation using a single hydrophone mounted on the UG is proposed. This method uses the motion of the UG to synthesize a linear array whose elements are positioned to acquire the target signal, thereby increasing the array aperture. The dead-reckoning method is used to determine the underwater trajectory of the UG, and the UG’s trajectory was corrected by the UG motion parameters, from which the array shape are adjusted accordingly and the position of the array elements was corrected. Additionally, array distortion caused by movement offsets due to ocean currents underwent linearization, reducing computational complexity. To validate the proposed method, a sea trial was conducted on 31 July 2018 in the South China Sea using the Haiyi 1000 UG equipped with a hydrophone, and its effectiveness was demonstrated through the processing of the collected data. The performance of DOA estimation prior to and following UG trajectory correction was compared to evaluate the impact of ocean currents on target DOA estimation accuracy.