A geolocation system (10) includes an emitter (12), a plurality of collection nodes (14,16,18), and a control station (20). Each collection node includes a receiver (24) that is operable to receive signals transmitted from the emitter (12), generate a reduced data stream that includes only signal data, and communicate the reduced data stream to the control station (20) along with navigation data. The receiver (24) identifies signal data by detecting an energy level of the raw collection data. More specifically, the receiver (24) determines a bandwidth and a signal-to-noise ratio of each portion of the collection data, and identifies each portion as including signal data if both the bandwidth and the signal-to-noise ratio exceed predetermined threshold amounts. The receiver (24) includes a digital signal processing component (36) for performing calculations used by the receiver (24) to determine the bandwidth and the signal-to-noise ratio.