Effects of rough surface on sound propagation in shallow water

Underwater acoustic applications depend critically on the prediction of sound propagation, which can be significantly affected by a rough surface, especially in shallow water. This paper aims to investigate how randomly fluctuating surface influences transmission loss(TL) in shallow water. The one-dimension wind-wave spectrum, Monterey–Miami parabolic equation(MMPE) model, Monte Carlo method, and parallel computing technology are combined to investigate the effects of different sea states on sound propagation. It is shown that TL distribution properties are related to the wind speed,frequency, range, and sound speed profile. In a homogenous waveguide, with wind speed increasing, the TLs are greater and more dispersive. For a negative thermocline waveguide, when the source is above the thermocline and the receiver is below that, the effects of the rough surface are the same and more significant. When the source and receiver are both below the thermocline, the TL distributions are nearly the same for different wind speeds. The mechanism of the different TL distribution properties in the thermocline environment is explained by using ray theory. In conclusion, the statistical characteristics of TL are affected by the relative roughness of the surface, the interaction strength of the sound field with the surface, and the changes of propagating angle due to refraction.     

Sound propagation from the shelfbreak to deep water

Motivated by a phenomenon in an experiment conducted in the Northwestern Pacific indicating that the energy of the received signal around the sound channel axis is much greater than that at shallower depths,we study sound propagation from the transitional area(shelfbreak)to deep water.Numerical simulations with different source depths are first performed,from which we reach the following conclusions.When the source is located near the sea surface,sound will be strongly attenuated by bottom losses in a range-independent oceanic environment,whereas it can propagate to a very long range because of the continental slope.When the source is mounted on the bottom in shallow water,acoustic energy will be trapped near the sound channel axis,and it converges more evidently than the case where the source is located near the sea surface.Then,numerical simulations with different source ranges are performed.By comparing the relative energy level in the vertical direction between the numerical simulations and the experimental data,the range of the air-gun source can be approximated.     

Inversion for Sound Speed Profile by Using a Bottom Mounted Horizontal Line Array in Shallow Water

Ocean acoustic tomography is an appealing technique for remote monitoring of the ocean environment. In shallow water, matched field processing （MFP） with a vertical line array is one of the widely used methods for inverting the sound speed profile （SSP） of water column. The approach adopted is to invert the SSP with a bottom mounted horizontal line array （HLA） based on MFP. Empirical orthonormal functions are used to express the SSP, and perturbation theory is used in the forward sound field calculation. This inversion method is applied to the data measured in a shallow water acoustic experiment performed in 2003, Successful results show that the bottom mounted HLA is able to estimate the SSP. One of the most important advantages of the inversion method with bottom mounted HLA is that the bottom mounted HLA can keep a stable array shape and is safe in a relatively long period.     

ACOUSTIC TRANSMISSION ATTENUATION CAUSED BY RANDOM SURFACE

Assuming that the rough surface is a stationary process with a normal distribution,the scat-tering of a plane acoustic wave by this surface is studied.The statistical mean of the reflection coef-ficient and its relation to the correlation radius of the random surface have been discussed.By in-troducing the concept of"the equivalent reflecting plane",a general formula for a field with apoint source in a stratified medium which has a random surface is derived.This demonstrates an easysolution to the additional attenuation coefficient under various sea conditions.The additional attenua-tion coefficients of the normal modes in the surface duct are given in detail.     

Video visualization for moving sound sources based on binoculars stereo and acoustic holography

The video visualization methods for moving sound sources are very important. The spatial positions in the sound filed measurement of moving sources arc measured by an automated method based on the binoculars stereo technique,the spatial coordinates of the surface of the moving sound source are determined automatically.The sound field of the surface of the moving source is reconstructed with a microphone array using the acoustic holography method for moving sound sources.The spatial mapping between the sound field and the video images is constructed,and also the time sequence of the sound field and the images is founded. Then,the reconstructed sound field and the real-world images are merged,and the visualized sound field video of the moving source is generated automatically.A sound field measurement system based on this method is developed,the measurement results of the moving sound source with this system indicate that the sound field video visualization is realized effectively with the proposed method,the sound sources and their changing process can be seen directly from the generated video,the identification and localization for the moving sound sources can be easier with this method.     

Perturbation characteristics of ambient sea noise caused by submerged objects

The perturbation characteristics of ambient sea noise field caused by scattering of submerged objects are discussed theoretically. Based on the sea noise source model with Gaussian-correlation amplitude, and applying the integral expressions for arbitrary source distribution and the spherical wave expression of Green function for a monopole in half-infinite space, the expressions of direct-arrival noise fields, scattering fields and total noise fields of a rigid spherical object under the irradiation of monopole and dipole sources, as well as the covariance among those noise fields at two receiving points are obtained. The numerical results of scattering directional patterns of rigid spherical objects and the visibility are given. It is shown that the total noise field is affected by not only the impedance characteristics of the object, the direction of receiver, but also the correlation between surface sources, and the interference between direct-arrival and scattering fields greatly. The results show that the sound visibility of a rigid spherical object is about 4-5 dB in near range and the scattering directivity characteristics of a rigid spherical object under the irradiation of surface sources are different from those of plane wave incidence.     

Calculation of three-dimensional acoustic scattering from Gaussian rough under-ice surface using the Kirchhoff approximation method with modified reflection coefficient

The Kirchhoff approximation with a modified reflection coefficient is used to calculate the three-dimensional acoustic scattering of a Gaussian rough under-ice surface.The concept of a local statistical average reflection coefficient of an under-ice surface is proposed in the calculation model.The scattered sound field of a two-dimensional Gaussian rough under-ice surface is divided into coherent scattering and incoherent scattering.A formula is derived for the scattering coefficient of each scattering component,and the three-dimensional scattering intensity is obtained.The relationships between the scattering intensity and(ⅰ) the root-meansquare height of the Gaussian rough under-ice surface,(ⅱ) the angle of incidence,and(ⅲ) the sound frequency are analyzed.The scattering intensity of a Gaussian rough under-ice surface is measured in a laboratory water tank,and the calculation results of the theoretical model are verified.The experimental results are compared with those of the theoretical model using(ⅰ) the present local statistical average reflection coefficient of an under-ice surface and(ⅱ) the mirror reflection coefficient of an under-ice surface from the literature.The calculation results of the model using the local statistical average reflection coefficient agree well with the experimental results.     

Matched Bearing Processing for Airborne Source Localization by an Underwater Horizontal Line Array

Location of an airborne source is estimated from signals measured by a horizontal line array （HLA）, based on the fact that a signal transmitted by an airborne source will reach a underwater hydrophone in different ways： via a direct refracted path, via one or more bottom and surface reflections, via the so-called lateral wave. As a result, when an HLA near the airborne source is used for beamforming, several peaks at different bearing angles will appear. By matching the experimental beamforming outputs with the predicted outputs for all source locations, the most likely location is the one which gives minimum difference. An experiment is conducted for airborne source localization in the Yellow Sea in October 2008. An HLA was laid on the sea bottom at the depth of 30m. A high-power loudspeaker was hung on a research ship floating near the HLA and sent out LFM pulses. The estimated location of the loudspeaker is in agreement well with the GPS measurements.     

SPATIAL COHERENCE AND TEMPORAL STABILITY OF THE LONG-RANGE SOUND FIELD IN SHALLOW WATER

The spatial coherence and temporal stability of long-range sound field in shallow water by usingexplosive sources are presented.A experiment was conducted in shallow water with depth of 38 m,the source and receiver depths were 7 m and 6 m,respectively,the longitudinal space correlationabove the thermocline was measured.Another was conducted in shallow water with depth of 60 m,the sources were at 25 and 30 m,and the receiver was at 25 m,the transverse,longitudinal and timecorrelations below the thermocline were measured.The experimental data show that strong spatialcoherence and temporal stability are present in the long-range sound field.     

Application of the method of equivalent edge currents to composite scattering from the cone-cylinder above a dielectric rough sea surface

Compared with scattering from a rough surface only, composite scattering from a target above a rough surface has become so practical that it is a subject of great interest. At present, this problem has been solved by some numerical methods which will produce an enormous calculation amount. In order to overcome this shortcoming, the reciprocity theorem (RT) and the method of equivalent edge currents (MEC) are used in this paper. Due to the advantage of RT, the difficulty in computing the secondary scattered fields is reduced. Simultaneously, MEC, a high-frequency method with edge diffraction considered, is used to calculate the scattered field from the cone-cylinder target with a high accuracy and efficiency. The backscattered field and the polarization currents of the rough sea surface are evaluated by the Kirchhoff approximation (KA) method and physical optics (PO) method, respectively. The effects of the backscattering radar cross section (RCS) and the Doppler spectrum on the size of the target and the windspeed of the sea surface for different incident angles are analysed in detail.     

Theory of sound field in a room

In the normal-mode theory of Morse, it gives a series of normal modes as the solution of forced vibration in a room. But actually there is always the direct radiation besides the normal modes which represent the reverbrant sound field only. The reason is that the normal modes were assumed only in the source, and naturally normal modes only are obtained in the solution. A theory of double source is proposed, that the sound source is both the source of the direct radiation as if in free space before the boundary surfaces were reached by the direct radiation, and after the first reflection from the boundary surfaces, the source of the reflected wavelets, randomly distributed both in space an in time on the boundary surfaces that build up the normal modes after further reflections. The wave equation is formed accordingly, and the solution of the wave equation, the sound field in a room, contains explicitly both the direct radiation and the reverberant sound formed of normal modes. The approximate mean square sound pressure is found to be the dircet sound determined by the sound power of the source,and reverberant sound determined by the sound power reduced by a factor of π/2, different slightly from the result obtained from energy consideration, if the source is pure tone. There is essentially no difference for a source of band noise.     

A Fast Field Scheme for the Parametric Sound Radiation from Rectangular Aperture Source

A virtual complex source approach has been developed to calculate numerically the ultrasound field generated by a rectangular planar source with high efficiency. The sound field can be treated as the resultant sound pressure from a set of complex virtual sources located at a complex distance, and then by exploiting the integrability of Gaussian function, a substantial analytical reduction to single integral is derived for the second-order field of the sum-, difference-frequency and second harmonic components. The validity of this fast field scheme is confirmed by comparison of numerical results and the experimental data published previously.     

Equivalent source method for identification of panel acoustic contribution in irregular enclosed sound field

For the interior sound field formed by the complex vibrating structure,an identification approach of panel acoustic contribution based on equivalent source method(ESM)was presented.The normal velocity on the surface of vibrating structure was first reconstructed by using interior nearfield acoustic holography based on ESM and the prediction of whole interior enclosed sound field was realized.Then the sound pressure produced by each panel at the interested field point was respectively replaced by the radiated pressure of the enclosed interior sound field which is formed by the equivalent virtual sources located near the surface of the cavity.Combining with the reconstructed normal surface velocity,the acoustic contribution of each panel to any position in the cavity was obtained by transforming the complex enclosed non-free field into the simple interior free field.Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted,and the influences of the number of the equivalent sources and the distance between them and the reconstructed surface have been investigated.The results show that the proposed method is easier to be implemented with the same accuracy than the traditional analysis method.     

Frequency invariability of acoustic field and passive source range estimation in shallow water

The frequency invariability of the warped modal signal and the warped signal autocorrelation function in shallow water is discussed.A method is proposed for passive source-range estimation based on the frequency invariability and warping transform of signal autocorrelation function received by a single hydrophone in a range-independent or weak range-dependent shallow water environment.In the method,a guided source with a known range is employed to provide the crucial and relative invariant scaled features.The experimental data in shallow water with an iso-speed profile and a fluctuated thermocline are used to verify this approach.The relative errors of the source range estimation are basically less than 10%.     

Numerical prediction of envelope line-spectrum intensity in underwater acoustic waveguides

In order to predict the detectible range and region of passive sonar in underwater channel,the attenuation causes of envelope line-spectrum height during vessel noise propagation are analyzed and an approach of numerical prediction is proposed.In the paper a model for vessel radiated noise is established by a periodically locally stationary random process,two formulae of the envelope line-spectrum height with and without background-noise are deduced, therefore the attenuation rule of the envelope line-spectrum height is obtained.It is shown that the transmission loss of the sound level of the envelope line-spectrum is same as the sound level of the stationary spectrum,but the decrease of envelope line-spectrum height depends on a modified scale of amplitude modulation depth which is variable with the ratio of signal to noise. An approach of numerical prediction for envelope line-spectrum height is as follows:first,the transmission loss of the stationary radiated noise is derived using the numerical approaches of normal modes or wavenumber integration or PE etc.,then the ratio of signal to noise on sound field is calculated,finally the decrease of envelope line-spectrum height is obtained according to the modified scale,and the envelope line-spectrum height in sound field is predicted.The theory and the numerical prediction approach possess certain innovation,practicality,simplicity and suitability for engineering.     

The dynamics of low-frequency signal acoustic intensity vector vortex structure in shallow sea

Spatiotemporal vector and phase properties of interference field of low-frequency signalling tone between three local vortices in a real shallow sea wave-guide have been studied.It has been demonstrated that in the field of constructive interference,components of particle velocity field and acoustic pressure are coherent.As a consequence the transfer of signal energy alog the axis of a shallow sea wave-guide is accomplished with plane wave.Physical objects are detected in the field of destructive interference,which,according to known deterministic signs,can be defined as local vortices of the intensity vector.A large-scale vorticity with acoustic intensity vector curl,components different from zero originates in the vicinity of local vortices.Regular particle displacements of local vortices have been detected against combined receiving device phase centre along the axis of a wave-guide.It has been demonstrated that the structure of vortices depends on signal/noise ratio.Local vortices and vorticity form vortex structure of vector acoustic field.Signalling tone with frequency of 88 ± 1 Hz from near-surface moving sound source was taken into consideration.Introduced results of full-scale experiment expand our concepts of real fundamental properties of shallow sea acoustic field and are to be considered in theoretical models.     

The diffracted sound field from the transition region of an axisymmetric body in water

Understanding the physical features of the diffracted sound field on the surface of an axisymmetric body is important for predicting the self-noise of a sonar mounted on an underwater platform.The diffracted sound field from the transition region of an axisymmetric body was calculated by the geometrical theory of diffraction.The diffraction ray between the source point and the receiving point on the surface of an axisymmetric body was calculated by using the dynamic programming method.Based on the diffracted sound field,a simulation scheme for the noise correlation of the conformal array was presented.It was shown that the normalized pressure of the diffracted sound field from the transition region reduced with the increases of the frequency and the curvature of the ray.The flow noises of two models were compared and a rather optimum fore-body geometric shape was given.Furthermore,it was shown that the correlation of the flow noise in the low frequencies was stronger than that in the high frequencies.And the flow noise received by the acoustic array on the curved surface had a stronger correlation than that on the head plane at the designed center frequency,which is important for sonar system design.     

Electronic and Shallow Impurity States in Semiconductor Heterostructures Under an Applied Electric Field

With the use of variational method to solve the effective mass equation, we have studied the electronic and shallow impurity states in semiconductor heterostructures under an applied electric field. The electron energy levels are calculated exactly and the impurity binding energies are calculated with the variational approach. It is found that the behaviors of electronic and shallow impurity states in heterostructures under an applied electric field are analogous to that of quantum wells. Our results show that with the increasing strength of electric field, the electron confinement energies increase, and the impurity binding energy increases also when the impurity is on the surface, while the impurity binding energy increases at first, to a peak value, then decreases to a value which is related to the impurity position when the impurity is away from the surface. In the absence of electric field, the result tends to the Levine＇s ground state energy （-1/4 effective Rydberg） when the impurity is on the surface, and the ground impurity binding energy tends to that in the bulk when the impurity is far away from the surface. The dependence of the impurity binding energy on the impurity position for different electric field is also discussed.