Navy's N-Layer Magnetic Model with application to naval magnetic demining

Abstract

The Navy and Marine Corps' Forward . . . From the Sea strategic concept has expanded naval operations from open-ocean, blue-water combat environments to the littoral regions in which naval mines can both be an extremely menacing threat to U.S. forces and an effective force multiplier for the Fleet. The Navy/Marine Corps must have efficient Mine Warfare (MIW) forces to ensure the Fleet can carry out operations in the open ocean and littorals, including maintaining open sea lanes of communication and supporting Ship-to- Objective Maneuver Warfare from the Sea while denying operating areas to the enemy. Every ship has a magnetic signature, which is caused by its iron and steel components. Additionally, the earth's natural magnetic field induces a magnetization in a ship depending on its latitude, longitude, and heading. Exploitation of surface ship and submarine magnetic field signatures by naval influence mines has occurred throughout time. In order to calculate the swept path width for magnetic minesweeping systems currently in use by the U.S. Mine Warfare (MIW) forces, it is necessary to calculate the vector components of the magnetic field strength which are generated by each of several possible system configurations. The Navy's Magnetic Model addresses this needed capability. The Navy's N-Layer Magnetic Model (NLMM) is used to predict the expected performance of magnetic minesweeping equipment in a complex environment consisting of N layers, each with arbitrary conductivity and thickness. The model is used to compute the magnetic field strength produced by various U.S. Navy magnetic minesweeping configurations using a random environmental vertical conductivity structure. To better determine which parameters had the greatest effect on the model, and which could be simplified or enhanced, a series of tests were run on actual data sets.