Okay, here’s what I don’t understand. It’s basically saying that bats can distinguish between complex (rough) objects and smooth objects via statistical analysis of thier sonar emissions. My question is, why the heck would they need to do statistical analysis for this?
Think about it. The IR for smooth objects is obviously different from the IR for rough objects. Why would a statistical analysis help them in any way? What essentially does it tell the bat that it can’t get just by scanning?
I understand that the sheer number of objects is a factor, but I still don’t see how SA would help it to make the right choices. Please explain.
In naval sonar, you can, under certain conditions, classify a target (identify if it is a merchant, a frigate, a corvette, etc) by analysing the spectum of it’s emission (passive sonar) or reflection (active sonar). Spectral analysis is a statistical tool. I think that the article means that the bats make a rough spectral analysis of the echos.