Asymptotic Expressions for the Mean and Variance of the Output of Clipped DIMUS Arrays in a Field of Uniform Uncorrelated Gaussian Noise Plus Signal

A new method for determining the mean and variance of the output of large clipped digital multibeam steering (DIMUS) arrays in the signal‐noise field of the title is described. Simple asymptotic formulas for the mean and variance are developed under conditions which would otherwise necessitate lengthy computer calculations that would become practically impossible for very large arrays. For the case of an array with 40 hydrophones, the formulas yield results which are no more than 2.5% in error for input signal‐to‐noise ratio, R⩾1. For a fixed number of hydrophones, N, the accuracy improves as R increases (and vice versa). The formulas are exact in the infinite N limit, for all R>0.