About the project
This project will pioneer a new generation of airborne acoustic sensing systems capable of transforming how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and high-altitude autonomous platforms perceive, understand, and interact with their atmospheric environment.
The project aims to develop computationally efficient models that describe acoustic wave propagation and backscattering in atmospheric environments, with a primary focus on signal processing. You'll join an international research programme involving leading academic and industrial partners from the UK, Australia, and the USA.
Classical acoustic propagation models often rely on high-fidelity numerical solvers that are computationally expensive and unsuitable for real-time or embedded signal analysis. In general simplified analytical models frequently neglect the influence of humidity gradients, temperature changes, and stochastic airflow changes on phase stability and spectral content.
This project will explore the possibility of creating reduced-order and physics-informed computational models that capture the essential mechanisms governing atmospheric acoustic scattering while remaining compatible with real-time signal processing architectures. Particular emphasis will be placed on:
- frequency-dependent attenuation and dispersion modelling
- efficient representation of incoherent backscattering
- algorithmic stability under rapidly varying atmospheric parameters
Validation will be performed using controlled experimental measurements in the laboratory under variable temperature and humidity conditions to quantify computational efficiency, model accuracy, and robustness.
The School of Electronics & Computer Science is committed to promoting equality, diversity inclusivity as demonstrated by our Athena SWAN award. We welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age, and will give full consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns and those who have taken a career break. The University has a generous maternity policy, onsite childcare facilities, and offers a range of benefits to help ensure employees’ well-being and work-life balance. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and has been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.
