Efficient ship noise classification with positive incentive noise and fused features using a simple convolutional network

Ship noise analysis is a critical area of research in hydroacoustic remote sensing due to its practical implications in identifying ship direction, type, and even specific ship identities. However, the limited availability of data poses challenges in developing accurate ship noise classification models. Previous studies have mainly focused on small-sample learning approaches, resulting in complex network structures. Nonetheless, underwater robots often have limited computing power, making it essential to develop simpler recognition networks. In this paper, we address the issue of data scarcity by introducing positive incentive noise. We propose a CNN-based hydroacoustic signal recognition method that achieves comparable or superior performance to previous studies, using a simple network structure as a back-end decision system. We describe the feature extraction process using a dataset with added noise and compare the performance of various features. Additionally, we compare our proposed method with previous studies. Experimental results demonstrate that simple neural networks can achieve high performance and excellent generalizability without the need for complex network structures like adversarial learning models.