Sonar workstation : comparison of two mean frequency estimators

Two mean frequency estimators which have been implemented in the Sonar Workstation were applied under practical circumstances in March 1988. Measurements were executed from the research vessel Volans on the Nieuwe Waterweg, Nieuwe Maas and Oude Maas. A spectral mean frequency estimator and a pulse pair mean frequency estimator have been compared. Both estimators used exactly the same set of backscatter signals. Although previous experiments have shown that these estimators might introduce considerable biases in the estimates, the bias in the presented results remains within reasonable limits.