A method for detecting the presence of a noise signal within a noise measurement field, where the noise measurement field includes a noise signal emanating from a noise source, and where the noise signal is mixed with extraneous noise existing within the noise measurement field. The method involves using a plurality of acoustic transducers arranged in a plurality of arrays to monitor the noise measurement field at a plurality of spatially separated locations. Outputs of the transducers are sampled to generate time series data. The time series data is processed to identify whether the noise signal is present.