Rényi entropy-based detection of North Atlantic right whale gunshot vocalizations
Abstract
A Rényi spectral entropy is introduced for environment-adaptive detection of underwater acoustic signals in low signal-to-noise conditions. The Rényi order α is a control parameter; varying α enhances contrast between signals and background noise and improves detectability. The entropy variance as a function of α exhibits four regimes separated by crossover points, from which an optimal interval for signal selection is identified. This establishes α as a single tunable parameter to optimize detection performance. The approach is validated on passive recordings of North Atlantic right whale gunshots and outperforms a detector based on the Shannon spectral entropy.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Marine animal studies overview
Underwater Acoustics Research
Underwater Vehicles and Communication Systems
Publication details
- Journal / source
- JASA Express Letters
- Publisher
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN