Positioning Method for an AUV in Arctic Seawater Based on Polarization

In this letter, a positioning method for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the Arctic that uses an electromagnetic field is studied. The method uses the direction-of-arrival (DOA) triangulation based on the polarization of the near field of three positioning nodes. The positioning nodes each transmit a monochromatic wave with a different frequency. The AUV can obtain the polarized field, and then estimate its position through a comparison of the different components of the field. The positioning error caused by the measurement error of the different components of the field has been analyzed, and numerical simulations are in an agreement with the analysis. The positioning error caused by the fluctuation of the sea surface has also been analyzed. The results show that triangulation with a polarization-based DOA can be used for the positioning of an AUV in the Arctic seawater.