The sensitivity of conventional matched?field processing algorithms to uncertainty in environmental parameters has prompted the design of more robust methods for source localization. Recently, the development of a new algorithm, the optimum uncertain field processor (OUFP), was reported which incorporates, a priori, the environmental uncertainty into the design of the matched?field processing
... [Show full abstract] algorithm [A. M. Richardson and L. W. Nolte, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 2280?2284 (1991)]. The processor was demonstrated to successfully locate a source in a deep ocean environment for the case of an uncertain soundvelocity profile. The present study addresses the problem of source localization in a shallow?water channel, in which the received pressure field consists primarily of bottom and surface interacting rays. Surface and bottom roughness are parametrized by the Eckart reflection coefficient. Environmental uncertainty is then introduced through mismatch in the reflection coefficient. Initial simulation results demonstrate that, when scattered rays constitute a significant portion of the received pressure field, the OUFP outperforms the conventional matched?field processor when the actual reflection coefficient is imperfectly known.