Travel-time tomography in shallow water: experimental demonstration at an ultrasonic scale

Acoustic tomography in a shallow ultrasonic waveguide is demonstrated at the laboratory scale between two source-receiver arrays. At a 1/1,000 scale, the waveguide represents a 1.1-km-long, 52-m-deep ocean acoustic channel in the kilohertz frequency range. Two coplanar arrays record the transfer matrix in the time domain of the waveguide between each pair of source-receiver transducers. A time-domain, double-beamforming algorithm is simultaneously performed on the source and receiver arrays that projects the multi-reflected acoustic echoes into an equivalent set of eigenrays, which are characterized by their travel times and their launch and arrival angles. Travel-time differences are measured for each eigenray every 0.1 s when a thermal plume is generated at a given location in the waveguide. Travel-time tomography inversion is then performed using two forward models based either on ray theory or on the diffraction-based sensitivity kernel. The spatially resolved range and depth inversion data confirm the feasibility of acoustic tomography in shallow water. Comparisons are made between inversion results at 1 and 3 MHz with the inversion procedure using ray theory or the finite-frequency approach. The influence of surface fluctuations at the air-water interface is shown and discussed in the framework of shallow-water ocean tomography.     

浅海水声信道冲激响应空变特性研究

浅海声传播对空间参数的变化十分敏感,信道冲激响应随空间的变化使水声信号处理的性能受到很大限制。文中采用射线理论模型估计信道冲激响应,用互相关方法仿真计算了信道响应对空间参数的敏感性,并对信道冲激响应空变特性的实际应用进行了讨论。     

Target detection and localization in shallow water: an experimental demonstration of the acoustic barrier problem at the laboratory scale

This study demonstrates experimentally at the laboratory scale the detection and localization of a wavelength-sized target in a shallow ultrasonic waveguide between two source-receiver arrays at 3 MHz. In the framework of the acoustic barrier problem, at the 1/1000 scale, the waveguide represents a 1.1-km-long, 52-m-deep ocean acoustic channel in the kilohertz frequency range. The two coplanar arrays record in the time-domain the transfer matrix of the waveguide between each pair of source-receiver transducers. Invoking the reciprocity principle, a time-domain double-beamforming algorithm is simultaneously performed on the source and receiver arrays. This array processing projects the multireverberated acoustic echoes into an equivalent set of eigenrays, which are defined by their launch and arrival angles. Comparison is made between the intensity of each eigenray without and with a target for detection in the waveguide. Localization is performed through tomography inversion of the acoustic impedance of the target, using all of the eigenrays extracted from double beamforming. The use of the diffraction-based sensitivity kernel for each eigenray provides both the localization and the signature of the target. Experimental results are shown in the presence of surface waves, and methodological issues are discussed for detection and localization.     

多项式混沌展开的浅海水声环境参数敏感度分析*

水下声场是海洋环境参数的非线性函数,因此环境参数的不确定性必然会引起水下声场预测的不确定性,从而导致与声场预测相关的声呐探测和水声通信等设备性能的下降。该文将Sobol敏感度指数的计算与多项式混沌展开方法相结合,将敏感度指数表达为环境条件的函数,利用Q范数约束的双曲截断方案来减少多项式项数,有效地分析了设定的"浅海负梯度温跃层"信道中8个环境参数及其交互效应对水下声传播的影响。结果表明,沉积层声速是低频远距离声场不确定性分布的最主要贡献参数,同时对于下发下收的情况,声源深度的影响程度随着声源频率增加而逐渐增大。最后应用射线理论从海底反射的角度解释了各个环境因素影响程度差异的具体原因。该文的研究对水声通信和探测系统在浅海不确定环境下的性能预报研究具有重要的参考意义。     

Modal Doppler theory of an arbitrarily accelerating continuous-wave source applied to mode extraction in the oceanic waveguide

A Doppler-based method for using a moving narrow-band source to extract the modes of acoustic propagation in a range-independent shallow ocean waveguide over a partial-water-column spanning vertical line array (VLA) is introduced. Because the modal components propagate at distinct frequencies in the case of uniform radial source motion, the modal depth functions may be isolated and extracted from a frequency decomposition of the field. Because Doppler broadening due to radial source accelerations degrades the effectiveness of the extraction method, the method incorporates a technique to compensate for Doppler broadening. As the basis for the compensation technique, a theory is introduced for describing the VLA field from an accelerating cw source. By connecting the range of the source at the time a signal feature is emitted (the retarded time) to the range of the source at the time the signal feature arrives at the receiver (the contemporary time), the theory incorporates the Doppler effects associated with the finite group velocities of the modal components. The mode extraction method and compensation technique are applied to simulation and ocean data.     

Acoustic propagation through anisotropic internal wave fields: transmission loss, cross-range coherence, and horizontal refraction

Results of a computer simulation study are presented for acoustic propagation in a shallow water, anisotropic ocean environment. The water column is characterized by random volume fluctuations in the sound speed field that are induced by internal gravity waves, and this variability is superimposed on a dominant summer thermocline. Both the internal wave field and resulting sound speed perturbations are represented in three-dimensional (3D) space and evolve in time. The isopycnal displacements consist of two components: a spatially diffuse, horizontally isotropic component and a spatially localized contribution from an undular bore (i.e., a solitary wave packet or solibore) that exhibits horizontal (azimuthal) anisotropy. An acoustic field is propagated through this waveguide using a 3D parabolic equation code based on differential operators representing wide-angle coverage in elevation and narrow-angle coverage in azimuth. Transmission loss is evaluated both for fixed time snapshots of the environment and as a function of time over an ordered set of snapshots which represent the time-evolving sound speed distribution. Horizontal acoustic coherence, also known as transverse or cross-range coherence, is estimated for horizontally separated points in the direction normal to the source-receiver orientation. Both transmission loss and spatial coherence are computed at acoustic frequencies 200 and 400 Hz for ranges extending to 10 km, a cross-range of 1 km, and a water depth of 68 m. Azimuthal filtering of the propagated field occurs for this environment, with the strongest variations appearing when propagation is parallel to the solitary wave depressions of the thermocline. A large anisotropic degradation in horizontal coherence occurs under the same conditions. Horizontal refraction of the acoustic wave front is responsible for the degradation, as demonstrated by an energy gradient analysis of in-plane and out-of-plane energy transfer. The solitary wave packet is interpreted as a nonstationary oceanographic waveguide within the water column, preferentially funneling acoustic energy between the thermocline depressions.     

Matched-field processing gain degradation caused by tidal flow over continental shelf bathymetry

Temporally variable, range dependent sound-speed profiles measured during ebb flow and estimated for slack flow are used to quantify the variability of matched-field signal-processing gain degradation in shallow water propagation channels controlled by tidally driven stratified flow over variable bathymetry. Calculations along a 9.3 km range establish phase changes in the acoustic signal as the primary cause of a 3-9 dB degradation in the coherent matched-field processing output of a full water column vertical array. The work indicates that over a tidal cycle acoustic signal properties and matched-field processing gain can be expected to change continuously in a shallow water stratified channel that has bathymetry variability. Acoustic signals propagating in such tidal flow-controlled environments may be expected to display repeatable (over successive tidal cycles) and predictable changes in their phase coherent properties. These results suggest that matched-field processor replica fields used in the shelf/slope propagation environment will have to be updated regularly during a tidal cycle to maintain maximum processor gain.     

南海北部浅海声场起伏及统计特性

水下声场的时间积分声强和峰值声强是声呐检测中的重要物理量,而海洋中的内波等动力学过程会造成声场强度的起伏。对南海北部浅海内波环境下定点声起伏实验数据分析,结合数值仿真,总结了试验海域近海底发射和近海底接收条件下内波引起接收信号强度起伏的统计特性.分析结果表明:接收信号的时间积分声强起伏小于峰值声强起伏;时间积分声强与峰值声强起伏的概率分布与对数正态分布较为接近.时间积分声强和峰值声强起伏大小与信号的频率有关,同一收发距离,中心频率650 Hz信号的声强起伏较中心频率310 Hz和375 Hz信号的声强起伏更为剧烈。对于同一频率,当海底较平坦时,声强起伏的闪烁指数随传播距离的增加而增大;当水深随传播距离逐渐变深时,声强起伏规律受内波和水深变化共同影响而更为复杂,闪烁指数先随传播距离增加而增大,之后又随传播距离的增加而逐渐变小.      

Single- and multi-channel underwater acoustic communication channel capacity: a computational study

Acoustic communication channel capacity determines the maximum data rate that can be supported by an acoustic channel for a given source power and source/receiver configuration. In this paper, broadband acoustic propagation modeling is applied to estimate the channel capacity for a time-invariant shallow-water waveguide for a single source-receiver pair and for vertical source and receiver arrays. Without bandwidth constraints, estimated single-input, single-output (SISO) capacities approach 10 megabitss at 1 km range, but beyond 2 km range they decay at a rate consistent with previous estimates by Peloquin and Leinhos (unpublished, 1997), which were based on a sonar equation calculation. Channel capacities subject to source bandwidth constraints are approximately 30-90% lower than for the unconstrained case, and exhibit a significant wind speed dependence. Channel capacity is investigated for single-input, multi-output (SIMO) and multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems, both for finite arrays and in the limit of a dense array spanning the entire water column. The limiting values of the SIMO and MIMO channel capacities for the modeled environment are found to be about four times higher and up to 200-400 times higher, respectively, than for the SISO case. Implications for underwater acoustic communication systems are discussed.     

空气中快速运动声源水下声场的波数积分模型

本文采用二维波数积分，对空气中高速运动声源激发的水下声场进行建模。针对二维波数积分计算声场时域解计算量大的问题，提出一种快速计算方法。用本文提出的方法，对深海和浅海情况下，空气中高速运动单频点声源激发的水下声场进行了计算和仿真。计算结果表明：在深海，水下接收信号的幅度和瞬时频率随时间发生变化；接收器深度、接收器与声源运动轨迹的最小距离对接收信号的变化快慢有较大影响，而声源高度的影响较小；在浅海中，接收信号呈现快速的幅度起伏，明显的多普勒频移和大的频率展宽效应。与简正波方法相比，本文方法主要适用于近场计算，而简正波方法适用于远场。另外，当声源频率较高时，二维波数积分方法的计算量将迅速增大。     

Examination of time-reversal acoustics in shallow water and applications to noncoherent underwater communications

The shallow water acoustic communication channel is characterized by strong signal degradation caused by multipath propagation and high spatial and temporal variability of the channel conditions. At the receiver, multipath propagation causes intersymbol interference and is considered the most important of the channel distortions. This paper examines the application of time-reversal acoustic (TRA) arrays, i.e., phase-conjugated arrays (PCAs), that generate a spatio-temporal focus of acoustic energy at the receiver location, eliminating distortions introduced by channel propagation. This technique is self-adaptive and automatically compensates for environmental effects and array imperfections without the need to explicitly characterize the environment. An attempt is made to characterize the influences of a PCA design on its focusing properties with particular attention given to applications in noncoherent underwater acoustic communication systems. Due to the PCA spatial diversity focusing properties, PC arrays may have an important role in an acoustic local area network. Each array is able to simultaneously transmit different messages that will focus only at the destination receiver node.     

Modal depth function estimation using time-frequency analysis

Acoustic propagation in shallow water is characterized by a set of depth-dependent modes, the modal depth functions, which propagate in range according to their horizontal wavenumbers. For inversion purposes, modal depth function estimation in shallow water is an issue when the environment is not known. Classical methods that provide blind mode estimation rely on the singular value decomposition of the received field at different frequencies over a vertical array of transducers. These methods require that the vertical array spans the full water column. This is obviously a strong limitation for the application of such methods in an operational context. To overcome these shortcomings, this study proposes to replace the spatial diversity constraint by a frequency diversity condition, and thus considers the case of a field emanating from an impulsive source. Indeed, because of the discrete nature of the wavenumber spectrum and due to their dispersive behavior, the modes are separated in the time-frequency domain. This phenomenon enables the design of a modal filtering scheme for signals received on a single receiver. In the case of a vertical receiver array, the modal contributions can be isolated for each receiver even when using a partial water column spanning array. This method thus eliminates the receiving constraints of classical methods of modal depth function estimation, although it imposes the use of an impulsive source. The developed algorithm is benchmarked on numerical simulations and validated on laboratory experimental data recorded in an ultrasonic waveguide. Practical applications are also discussed.     

Study of a novel range-dependent propagation effect with application to the axial injection of signals from the Kaneohe source

A novel range-dependent propagation effect occurs when a source is placed on the seafloor in shallow water with a downward refracting sound speed profile, and sound waves propagate down a slope into deep water. Under these conditions, small grazing-angle sound waves slide along the bottom downward and outward from the source until they reach the depth of the sound channel axis in deep water, where they are detached from the sloping bottom and continue to propagate outward near the sound channel axis. This "mudslide" effect is one of a few robust and predictable acoustic propagation effects that occur in range-dependent ocean environments. As a consequence of this effect, a bottom mounted source in shallow water can inject a significant amount of acoustic energy into the axis of the deep ocean sound channel that can then propagate to very long ranges. Numerical simulations with a full-wave range-dependent acoustic model show that the Kaneohe experiment had the appropriate source, bathymetry, and sound speed profiles that allows this effect to operate efficiently. This supports the interpretation that some of the near-axial acoustic signals, received near the coast of California from the bottom mounted source located in shallow water in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, were injected into the sound channel of the deep Pacific Ocean by this mechanism. Numerical simulations suggest that the mudslide effect is robust.     

Overview of channel models for underwater wireless communication networks

Acoustic communication in Underwater Wireless Communication Networks (UWCNs) has several challenges due to the presence of fading, multipath and refractive properties of the sound channel which necessitate the development of precise underwater channel models. Some existing channel models are simplified and do not consider multipath or multipath fading. In this paper, a detailed survey on ray-theory-based multipath Rayleigh underwater channel models for underwater wireless communication is presented and the research challenges for an efficient communication in this environment are outlined. These channel models are valid for shallow or deep water. They are based on acoustic propagation physics which captures different propagation paths of sound in the underwater and consider all the effects of shadow zones, multipath fading, operating frequency, depth and water temperature. The propagation characteristics are shown through mathematical analysis. Transmission losses between transceivers are investigated through simulations. Further simulations are carried out to study the bit error rate effects and the maximum internode distances for different networks and depths considering a 16-QAM modulation scheme with OFDM as the multicarrier transmission technique. The effect of weather season and the variability of ocean environmental factors such as water temperature on the communication performance are also shown. The mathematical analysis and simulations highlight important considerations for the deployment and operation of UWCNs.     

Determination of plate source, detector separation from one signal

We address the problem of locating a transient source, such as an acoustic emission source, in a plate. We apply time-frequency analysis to the signals detected at a receiver. These highly dispersive and complex waveforms are measured for source-receiver separations ranging from 40 to 180 plate thicknesses and at frequencies such that 10 to 20 Rayleigh-Lamb branches are included. Reassigned, smoothed, pseudo-Wigner-Ville distributions are generated that exhibit the expected sharp ridges in the time-frequency plane, lying along the predicted frequency-time-of-arrival relations. The source-receiver separation can be determined from such plots.     

斜程大气中聚焦J0相关部分相干光束的传输特性

采用部分相干光交叉谱密度理论,给出了适用于任意大气湍流条件的斜程湍流大气传输J₀相关部分相干光束在接收面内的长期平均光强分布、光束长期扩展和质量因子的解析表达式,分析了天顶角、传输距离、光源相干性以及湍流外尺度对接收面光强分布特性和光束扩展的影响.研究结果表明：在天顶角和传输距离一定的条件下,通过选择合适的光源相干性可控制焦面光强为平顶分布或中心光强为最大;在传输距离给定的条件下,随着天顶角或大气湍流外尺度的增加,焦斑光强分布均由中央凹陷分布逐渐变为高斯分布.焦面附近光强的中央凹陷比焦面的中央凹陷浅.J₀相关部分相干光束实际焦斑位置随天顶角、湍流外尺度的增加以及相干性减弱而移向发射端. 关键词： 部分相干束 大气湍流 0相关')" href="#">J₀相关 斜程传输     

Model-oriented ocean tomography using higher frequency, bottom-mounted hydrophones

A tomographic scheme is presented that ingests ocean acoustic measurements into an ocean model using data from bottom-mounted hydrophones. The short distances between source-receiver pairs (1-10 km) means arrival times at frequencies of 8-11 kHz are readily detectable and often distinguishable. The influence of ocean surface motion causes considerable variability in acoustic travel times. Techniques are presented for measuring travel times and removing the variability due to surface waves. An assimilation technique is investigated that uses differences in measured and modeled acoustic travel times to impose corrections on the oceanographic model. Equations relating travel time differences to oceanographic variables are derived, and techniques are presented for estimating the acoustic and ocean model error covariance matrices. One test case using a single source-receiver pair shows that the tomographic information can have an impact on constraining the solution of the ocean circulation model but can also introduce biases in the predictions. A second test case utilizes knowledge of a bias in a model-predicted variable to limit grid cells that are impacted by the tomographic data. In this case, using the tomographic data results in significant improvements in the model predictions without introducing any biases.     

浅海环境下数据同化声层析方法研究

讨论了适用于浅海的基于声速局部测量模型、声传播模型及声压场局部测量模型的声学数据同化方法,并给出了具体的执行算法。该算法根据最优化准则把局部声速和声压场的先验测量信息,以及声传播模型进行了有效地融合,提高了海洋环境参数估计的精度,为浅海声层析提供了新思路。同时,利用实验浅海声速测量数据,通过经验正交函数对实际海洋声速剖面进行了估计,并分析了各类噪声对水体声速场及海底声学参数估计精度的影响,验证了该执行算法的有效性。      

西北太平洋副热带模态水区域声传播特性*

西北太平洋副热带模态水(STMW)是在西北太平洋夏季出现的温跃层中温度、盐度和密度具有垂向均一性的水团。由于西北太平洋副热带模态水(STMW)的存在,深海声速剖面呈现出双跃层结构,对深海远程声传播产生较大的影响。本文对比分析了西北太平洋副热带模态水(STMW)区域夏冬两季典型声速剖面环境下的声传播规律。分析结果表明,夏季声速剖面环境下,声源位于浅层声道宽度内时,声传播为浅层声道的类深海声道传播与会聚区传播的复合形式。掠射角较小的声线被限制于浅层声道中,增加了会聚区内的到达结构,并且增强了在影区的声能量,在第二影区内的传播损失比冬季声速剖面环境下最多低近60dB。本文推导了浅层声道的截止频率的近似表达式,分析结果表明,截止频率主要由浅层声道的宽度和正梯度段的声速差值决定,夏季STMW区域浅层声道截止频率主要集中在100Hz左右。     

浅海随机相位起伏声场中速度估计的互谱分析方法

浅海条件下,目标运动速度是基于波导不变量声源被动定位的关键因素,利用浅海波导环境下的声场简正波理论,研究了浅海随机相位起伏的波束域声场互相关信号的特点,并通过声速剖面的二阶统计量对随机相位扰动进行了有效的补偿,提出利用波束域声场互相关信号进行谱分析的速度估计方法,仿真实验表明了该方法的有效性。利用2013年7月海试实验数据,该方法准确的估计出了目标的速度,并与GPS实测速度对比,速度估计的相对误差在10%以内。