Sound scattering by spatially localized inhomogeneities in a shallow-water waveguide in the presence of internal waves

A method is developed for solving the problem of sound scattering by concentrated inhomogeneities in a waveguide of small depth in the presence of internal waves (IW) typical of an oceanic shelf. The sound field fluctuations related to the motion of a model scatterer (a soft spheroid) and to the propagation of the IW are calculated and analyzed. It is shown that the field of internal waves considerably affects the scattered sound field even when the source-receiver and source-scatterer distances are relatively small (about several kilometers). This effect depends not only on the amplitude of the IW, but on their propagation direction as well.     

Phase fluctuations of focused low-frequency sound fields in shallow water

Numerical experiments are carried out to study the phase fluctuations of a focused low-frequency sound field on an oceanic shelf. The focusing of sound at a distance of several kilometers is simulated using the phase conjugation of sound waves. Perturbations of the medium are represented by high-frequency (>1 cph) background internal waves and by the wind waves on the ocean surface. It is shown that, for a focused sound field at frequencies of several hundreds of hertz, the phase fluctuations do not exceed π and can be measured against the background of acoustic noise typical of shallow-water regions of the ocean. The fluctuation magnitude can be reduced approximately by half through the optimal choice of the mode composition. In the presence of such fluctuations, it is possible to measure the relative variations of the length of a stationary acoustic path with an accuracy of 1 m or better at a wind speed no greater than 10 m/s and a typical intensity of background internal waves.     

Effect of internal tides on slow energy fluctuations of impulse signals in an experiment on a long-distance stationary path

Temporal energy fluctuations of impuse signals generated by powerful explosive sources of sound are considered by using the experimental data obtained on a long-distance stationary path in the northwestern Pacific. The signals were received on the Kamchatka shelf (a characteristic ocean depth of about 200 m) at two points spaced by 115 km in the latitudinal direction, one of the reception points being located on the shelf far from its edge, and the other, on the shelf edge. The signal radiation was performed in the deep ocean, at a distance of about 1000 km from the shelf edge. Charges were exploded every hour for more than five days. The frequency-dependent energy fluctuations of the signals and those of the first mode alone were measured in the frequency range 10–80 Hz. It is shown that the amplitudes of energy fluctuations of the first mode in narrow bands can exceed 10 dB and make the main contribution to the energy fluctuations of the total signal. The maximum energy of the first mode is reached on the high tide. It is hypothesized that internal tide-induced variations of the sound velocity field on the shelf affect the degree of energy interaction between the first mode and the bottom.     

Superluminosity,sound propagation,and causality

Different field theories may lead to identical equations of state. Depending on the field theory, from which an equation of state is derived, in the superluminal density domain the sound wave propagation velocity exceeds (does not exceed) the velocity of light, if the field is a medium with normal (anomal) dispersion. Super-light sound violates causality, causality violations lead to logical paradoxies, so superluminal density regions should be regions of anomal dispersion.     

Effect produced on sound propagation by an internal temperature front moving over the shelf

Results of observing the changes that occur in the vertical distribution of water temperature under the effect of an intense atmospheric cyclone and the influence of these changes on sound propagation in the shelf region of the Sea of Japan are presented. The measurement results refer to the autumn conditions. The measuring equipment includes a vertical acoustic-hydrophysical measuring system, a broadband transmitter (both of them being connected with the shore station by cable lines), and a self-contained resonance (320 Hz) transmitter of the electromagnetic type. The sound (tone signals) propagation is studied on a 510-m-long constant-depth (38 m) track (TON-310 Hz) and a 10.6-km-long track (TON-320 Hz), which is set up by placing the self-contained transmitter at the bottom (at a depth of 65 m). Results of field experiments are presented along with those of numerical simulation of the effect produced by an internal temperature front moving toward the coast and formed by the seasonal thermocline on the propagation of 320-Hz sound signals through it. It is shown that refraction and scattering of sound waves propagating through the temperature front moving along the acoustic track may cause intensity variations of acoustic field at the reception point, which occur synchronously at different depths and have amplitudes of up to 14 dB and a period of about 40 min.     

Effect of internal waves on the sea surface in two-dimensional case

A nonlinear model of the interaction between internal and Stokes surface waves is considered. An internal wave (IW) is set in the form of a large-scale variable surface flow, directed at a certain angle to the surface-wave (SW) field. Wave interaction patterns are studied, and a comparison with the results of linear modulation model is performed. The dependence of the refraction-wave pattern on the main parameters of the problem (SW steepness, strength and direction of IW-induced flow, and the angle between the SW and IW) is investigated.     

The effect of geoacoustic characteristics of the bottom on the long-range sound propagation in an inhomogeneous ocean

The long-range sound propagation from a deep ocean to a receiving system located on the shelf is modeled. The waveguide model is constructed on the basis of the data of an acoustic-oceanographic experiment carried out in the northwestern Pacific. The sensitivity and the frequency dependence of the difference in the sound field levels at the crossing of the frontal zone on the geoacoustic characteristics of the bottom of the shelf and the continental slope are investigated. It is shown that the level difference decreases by 8.2 dB as the velocity of longitudinal waves increases by 100 m/s in the range within 1490–1820 m/s.     

Frequency shifts of the sound field interference pattern in shallow water because of second-mode soliton-like internal waves

Numerical simulation is carried out to analyze the effect of an internal soliton of the second gravity mode on low-frequency sound propagation in an oceanic shelf region. The simulation is performed using the data of a full-scale experiment performed on the shelf of the South China Sea near Dongsha atoll, where the aforementioned solitons had been detected by stationary vertical thermistor arrays. The calculations take into account the effect of horizontal refraction of sound waves. It is assumed that a stationary acoustic track is oriented across the predominant propagation direction of internal waves. The results of simulation show that, when the soliton crosses the stationary track, some of the sound field modes are focused, whereas other modes are defocused. It is demonstrated that the soliton parameters can be adequately determined from the frequency shifts of the sound field interference pattern. However, such an estimate of the soliton parameters is only possible for a limited length of the stationary track for which the effect of horizontal refraction is sufficiently weak.     

Effect of random hydrodynamic inhomogeneities on low frequency sound propagation loss in shallow water

Low frequency (100–500 Hz) sound propagation loss on the US Atlantic continental shelf and in the Barents Sea in the presence of stochastic surface waves, and for the US Atlantic shelf also in the presence of internal waves, is studied for the range of up to 150 km by means of numerical simulations. Qualitative difference between sound propagation loss behavior on the US Atlantic shelf and in the Barents Sea is demonstrated for summertime conditions even without random inhomogeneities. It is shown that whereas internal waves have a weak effect on propagation loss, surface waves result in its considerable increase in both areas under wintertime conditions with a wind speed of more than 9 m/s.     

Acoustic effects caused by high-intensity internal waves in a shelf zone

The sound field fluctuations caused by high-intensity, solitonlike, quasi-plane internal waves crossing a fixed acoustic path at different angles are numerically modeled for natural conditions of the shelf zone of the Sea of Japan. The horizontal refraction of sound is considered for the case of an acoustic path parallel to the internal wave front.     

Bayesian geoacoustic inversion in a dynamic shallow water environment

This paper presents results for matched field Bayesian geoacoustic inversion of multitonal continuous wave data collected on the New Jersey continental shelf. To account for effects of significant spatial and temporal variation of the water column sound speed, the sound speed profile was represented by empirical orthogonal functions. Data error information for the inversion was estimated from multiple time windows of the data. Inversion results for the sediment sound speeds at three ranges are in excellent agreement with the ground truth.     

Spectral features of the water temperature and sound intensity variations measured on the shelf of the Sea of Japan

Results of a spectral analysis of the water temperature and sound intensity variations measured on stationary acoustic-hydrophysical tracks in the shelf zone of the Sea of Japan are presented. The measurements were carried out in different seasons with the use of equipment that included a vertical acoustic-hydrophysical measuring system, self-contained acoustic-hydrophysical radio buoys, and a self-contained electromagnetictype resonance (320 Hz) transmitter. Spectral features of temperature fluctuations caused by internal waves in a vertical water layer are studied, and their influence on the sound propagation is demonstrated on tracks of different lengths oriented along and across the shelf.     

The effect of internal waves on the sound propagation in the shelf zone of the sea of Japan in different seasons

Results of the observation of seasonal variations in the vertical distribution of water temperature in the shelf zone of the Sea of Japan are presented, and the effect of this variability on the parameters of internal waves and on sound propagation is studied. The measurements were carried out in different seasons using a vertical acoustical-hydrophysical measuring system. The propagation of sound (tone and noise signals) was studied on a 510-m-long track at a constant depth of 38 m. Using a self-contained resonance (320 Hz) transmitter of the electromagnetic type, which was bottom-moored at a depth of 65 m, a 10.6-km-long stationary acoustic track crossing the shelf was set up. During the in-sea experiments, the spatial characteristics of internal waves were measured along with the distributions of temperature, salinity, sound velocity, and sea level variations.     

Vertical variability of sound fields in a coastal wedge

The results of measuring the vertical variability of sound fields are presented for a coastal wedge off the Pacific shelf of the Kamchatka peninsula. It is shown that the vertical radius of sound field correlation can reach ～30 m for frequencies within 600–800 Hz. The scatter of the specific parameters of the variability is in rather wide limits depending on the location of a vertical chain of receiving hydrophones, the hydrological conditions, the azimuth angle of the sound source, and the relief and bottom structure of the coastal wedge.     

Study of how hydrological conditions affect the propagation of pseudorandom signals from the shelf in deep water

The paper examines how hydrological conditions affect manifestation of the acoustic “landslide” effect, which consists in focusing of acoustic energy in the near-bottom layer on the shelf and its transition to the axis of an underwater sound channel in deep water. We compare the results of experiments performed in the Sea of Japan in April 2014 and August 2006 on the same acoustic track, where the distance between corresponding points was more than 100 km. In April, the hydrological conditions in the shelf region of the track and in the upper layer of the deep-water part of the sea were characterized by the presence of a relatively weak (~0.35 s^–1) negative vertical sound velocity gradient, whereas in August 2006, it was ~1.5 s^–1. Experimental and numerical studies showed that the acoustic landslide effect also manifests itself under conditions of a weak negative sound velocity gradient, but the structure of the acoustic field trapped by the underwater sound channel has a more complex character with a time-expanded pulse characteristic. Nevertheless, its ordered, stable, and well-identified structure at all track points chosen for measurements make it possible to reliably create an efficient (with accuracies to hundredths of a percent) underwater navigation systems like GLONASS and GPS for the spring hydrology season.     

Frequency shifts of the sound field interference pattern on oceanic shelf in summer conditions

Considerable shifts Δf/ϕ ≈ 10⁻¹ of the low-frequency sound field interference pattern in the frequency domain, associated with barotropic tide and internal tidal waves, were observed in the Shallow Water’06 experiment on the New Jersey shelf in the summer of 2006. The acoustic frequency shifts appear to be strongly dependent on the modes of the sound field. By examining different modal structure, it is possible to analyze the overall interference pattern and find which part is more sensitive either to the surface tide or the internal waves. This feature can be exploited to acoustically monitor tidal waves of different kinds.     

Comprehensive studies of sound fields in the Kuril-Kamchatka region of the northwestern Pacific

The technique, experimental conditions, and main results of comprehensive studies of sound fields in the northwestern region of the Pacific Ocean are presented. The experiments are carried out on paths up to 2100 km in length. The power-frequency, space-time, and correlation characteristics of the sound fields are studied in sonic and infrasonic frequency bands for long-and extra-long-range propagation with the use of cw and explosion-generated sound signals. Effects of the bottom relief and the spatial distribution of the speed of sound on the frequency characteristics of the sound field are investigated. The role of front zones in the formation of sound fields received at the coastal shelf and in the open ocean is revealed. The loss coefficients are estimated. The space-time stability of the sound field components is studied, and the possibility is shown for the coherent components to be conserved and resolved in frequency at distances up to 2100 km. The phase velocities of these components are determined. The total broadening of the frequency spectra is considered. The correlation characteristics of the total field are obtained for horizontally separated receivers in sonic and infrasonic frequency bands.     

The coherence of low-frequency sound in shallow water in the presence of internal waves

The coherence time and transverse coherence length of a low-frequency (100–300 Hz) sound field that is formed by an omnidirectional point source at a distance of 10–30 km in a shallow-water acoustic waveguide, which is characteristic of an open ocean shelf, were estimated analytically and in a numerical experiment. An anisotropic field of background internal waves is considered as a source of spatiotemporal fluctuations. It is shown that the coherence time decreases as the frequency increases, and strongly depends on the perturbation-movement direction. The transverse coherence length is primarily determined by phase incursions that are related to the cylindrical shape of the acoustic-wave front. In the case of transverse propagation, background internal waves may lead to significant variations in this length. The introduction of compensating phase corrections during processing provides a considerable increase in the average transverse coherence length.     

Focusing of low-frequency sound fields in shallow water

A numerical experiment is carried out to study the focusing of a low-frequency (100–300 Hz) sound field in a shallow-water acoustic waveguide typical of an oceanic shelf. Focusing with the use of time reversal of broadband acoustic signals, which is called time reversal mirror (TRM) of waves, is considered along with focusing by phase conjugation (PC) of a monochromatic sound field. It is demonstrated that, in the case of focusing by the TRM method in the waveguide of interest, it is sufficient to have a single source-receiving element. The use of a vertical array improves the quality of focusing. The quality achieved in the latter case proves to be approximately the same as that achieved in the case of focusing by phase conjugation of a monochromatic field at a frequency identical to the carrier frequency of the broadband signals. It is also shown that, in a range-independent waveguide, intense surface waves considerably reduce the quality of focusing. This effect is most pronounced in the case of using phase conjugation.     

Scattering from extended targets in range-dependent fluctuating ocean-waveguides with clutter from theory and experiments

Bistatic, long-range measurements of acoustic scattered returns from vertically extended, air-filled tubular targets were made during three distinct field experiments in fluctuating continental shelf waveguides. It is shown that Sonar Equation estimates of mean target-scattered intensity lead to large errors, differing by an order of magnitude from both the measurements and waveguide scattering theory. The use of the Ingenito scattering model is also shown to lead to significant errors in estimating mean target-scattered intensity in the field experiments because they were conducted in range-dependent ocean environments with large variations in sound speed structure over the depth of the targets, scenarios that violate basic assumptions of the Ingenito model. Green's theorem based full-field modeling that describes scattering from vertically extended tubular targets in range-dependent ocean waveguides by taking into account nonuniform sound speed structure over the target's depth extent is shown to accurately describe the statistics of the targets' scattered field in all three field experiments. Returns from the man-made targets are also shown to have a very different spectral dependence from the natural target-like clutter of the dominant fish schools observed, suggesting that judicious multi-frequency sensing may often provide a useful means of distinguishing fish from man-made targets.