Three-dimensional modeling of hearing in Delphinus delphis.

Physical modeling is a fertile approach to investigating sound emission and reception (hearing) in marine mammals. A method for simulation of hearing was developed combining three-dimensional acoustic propagation and extrapolation techniques with a novel approach to modeling the acoustic parameters of mammalian tissues. Models of the forehead and lower jaw tissues of the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, were created in order to simulate the biosonar emission and hearing processes. This paper outlines the methods used in the hearing simulations and offers observations concerning the mechanisms of acoustic reception in this dolphin based on model results. These results include: (1) The left and right mandibular fat bodies were found to channel sound incident from forward directions to the left and right tympanic bulla and to create sharp maxima against the lateral surfaces of each respective bulla; (2) The soft tissues of the lower jaw improved the forward directivity of the simulated receptivity patterns; (3) A focal property of the lower-jaw pan bones appeared to contribute to the creation of distinct forward receptivity peaks for each ear; (4) The reception patterns contained features that may correspond to lateral hearing pathways. A "fast" lens mechanism is proposed to explain the focal contribution of the pan bones in this dolphin. Similar techniques may be used to study hearing in other marine mammals.     

Estimation of the detection probability for Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis) with a passive acoustic method

Yangtze finless porpoises were surveyed by using simultaneous visual and acoustical methods from 6 November to 13 December 2006. Two research vessels towed stereo acoustic data loggers, which were used to store the intensity and sound source direction of the high frequency sonar signals produced by finless porpoises at detection ranges up to 300 m on each side of the vessel. Simple stereo beam forming allowed the separation of distinct biosonar sound source, which enabled us to count the number of vocalizing porpoises. Acoustically, 204 porpoises were detected from one vessel and 199 from the other vessel in the same section of the Yangtze River. Visually, 163 and 162 porpoises were detected from two vessels within 300 m of the vessel track. The calculated detection probability using acoustic method was approximately twice that for visual detection for each vessel. The difference in detection probabilities between the two methods was caused by the large number of single individuals that were missed by visual observers. However, the sizes of large groups were underestimated by using the acoustic methods. Acoustic and visual observations complemented each other in the accurate detection of porpoises. The use of simple, relatively inexpensive acoustic monitoring systems should enhance population surveys of free-ranging, echolocating odontocetes.     

Echolocation in the Risso's dolphin,Grampus griseus

The Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) is an exclusively cephalopod-consuming delphinid with a distinctive vertical indentation along its forehead. To investigate whether or not the species echolocates, a female Risso's dolphin was trained to discriminate an aluminum cylinder from a nylon sphere (experiment 1) or an aluminum sphere (experiment 2) while wearing eyecups and free swimming in an open-water pen in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The dolphin completed the task with little difficulty despite being blindfolded. Clicks emitted by the dolphin were acquired at average amplitudes of 192.6 dB re 1 microPa, with estimated sources levels up to 216 dB re 1 microPa-1 m. Clicks were acquired with peak frequencies as high as 104.7 kHz (Mf(p) = 47.9 kHz), center frequencies as high as 85.7 kHz (Mf(0) = 56.5 kHz), 3-dB bandwidths up to 94.1 kHz (M(BW) = 39.7 kHz), and root-mean-square bandwidths up to 32.8 kHz (M(RMS) = 23.3 kHz). Click durations were between 40 and 70 micros. The data establish that the Risso's dolphin echolocates, and that, aside from slightly lower amplitudes and frequencies, the clicks emitted by the dolphin were similar to those emitted by other echolocating odontocetes. The particular acoustic and behavioral findings in the study are discussed with respect to the possible direction of the sonar transmission beam of the species.     

材料非线性衰减系数的二次谐波测量方法研究

采用有限幅值法测量材料在基波和非线性引起的二次谐波作用下的衰减系数:利用准线性下的KZK方程推导基波和二次谐波的声压分布,并提取波束修正系数;采用短纯音信号进行非线性实验,对检测得到的基波和二次谐波声压进行衍射修正处理,有效抑制衍射对衰减系数测量的不利影响,继而通过线性拟合的方法计算得到更精确的基波和二次谐波的衰减系数。以水为例进行实验,研究了实验测量所得衰减系数的频率依赖关系,结果表明在非线性条件下水的衰减系数与频率间存在较强的线性关系,而线性条件下衰减系数随频率呈现二次方增长的特性则不适用于非线性条件。该研究提出了准确测量非线性声波衰减系数的方法,为更有效地应用非线性超声检测提供理论依据。      

Noseleaf furrows in a horseshoe bat act as resonance cavities shaping the biosonar beam

Horseshoe bats emit their ultrasonic biosonar pulses through nostrils surrounded by intricately shaped protuberances (noseleaves). While these noseleaves have been hypothesized to affect the sonar beam, their physical function has never been analyzed. Using numerical methods, we show that conspicuous furrows in the noseleaf act as resonance cavities shaping the sonar beam. This demonstrates that (a) animals can use resonances in external, half-open cavities to direct sound emissions, (b) structural detail in the faces of bats can have acoustic effects even if it is not adjacent to the emission sites, and (c) specializations in the biosonar system of horseshoe bats allow for differential processing of subbands of the pulse in the acoustic domain.     

一种低声速沉积层海底参数声学反演方法

软泥底环境下沉积层参数的声学反演是国际水声领域的一个研究热点.浅海中,当高声速基底和海水之间存在一层低声速(小于海水声速)的沉积层时,小掠射角情况下不同频率声传播损失会出现周期性增大现象.基于此现象,提出一种适用于低声速沉积层的海底参数声学反演方法.首先,推导给出小掠射角情况下传播损失周期增大的频率间隔与沉积层声速、厚度及近海底海水声速之间的解析表达式;其次,利用一次黄海实验中软泥底环境下的宽带声传播信号,提取了小掠射角下传播损失增大的频率周期;再次,把该解析表达式作为约束条件,结合Hamilton密度与声速的经验公式,采用匹配场处理反演给出沉积层的声速、密度、厚度及基底的声速、密度;然后,利用声传播损失数据反演得到泥底环境下不同频率的声衰减系数,通过拟合发现泥底声衰减系数随频率近似呈线性关系;最后,给出了双层海底模型和半无限大海底模型等效性的讨论.反演结果为低声速沉积层海底声传播规律研究与应用提供了海底声学参数.     

超声吸收体物理参数对红外热成像测量高强度聚焦超声声场的影响

超声吸收体的物理参数对利用水听器和红外热成像技术的高强度聚焦超声(High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound,HIFU)声场测量结果具有重要影响。为了探索超声吸收体的物理参数(密度、声速、衰减系数、热扩散系数、定压比热容)对测量结果的影响规律,本文根据层状模型计算出相同声源功率输出时不同物理参数对应的超声吸收体内部声场和热场,利用有限差分法计算出超声吸收体表面在辐照过程中的温度变化;利用基于水听器和红外热成像技术的聚焦声场测量方法测量出焦域内不同位置上声场特征值(轴线声强和-6 dB声束宽度),与通过理论计算得到的声源在纯水中声场特征值进行比较,分析了不同物理参数对测量结果的影响。超声吸收体的声、热学参数中除了声速外,其它物理参数的变化引起声场特征值的测量造成最大相对差异率小于15%。因为声波传播速度的改变会导致超声吸收体内部热场分布变化,使测量结果与理论计算值有较大偏差,其中-6 dB声束宽度和轴线声强最大相对差异率为95.37%和69.97%。因此在选择超声吸收体的声、热学参数时应重点关注声波在吸收体内声速的影响。超声吸收体的声学参数与水的声学参数相近时,可以在焦域内获得较好的测量结果。      

A full vectorial contrast source inversion scheme for three-dimensional acoustic imaging of both compressibility and density profiles

Imaging the two acoustic medium parameters density and compressibility requires the use of both the acoustic pressure and velocity wave fields, described via integral equations. Imaging is based on solving for the unknown medium parameters using known measured scattered wave fields, and it is difficult to solve this ill-posed inverse problem directly using a conjugate gradient inversion scheme. Here, a contrast source inversion method is used in which the contrast sources, defined via the product of changes in compressibility and density with the pressure and velocity wave fields, respectively, are computed iteratively. After each update of the contrast sources, an update of the medium parameters is obtained. Total variation as multiplicative regularization is used to minimize blurring in the reconstructed contrasts. The method successfully reconstructed three-dimensional contrast profiles based on changes in both density and compressibility, using synthetic data both with and without 50% white noise. The results were compared with imaging based only on the pressure wave field, where speed of sound profiles were solely based on changes in compressibility. It was found that the results improved significantly by using the full vectorial method when changes in speed of sound depended on changes in both compressibility and density.     

Properties of sound attenuation around a two-dimensional underwater vehicle with a large cavitation number

Due to the high speed of underwater vehicles,cavitation is generated inevitably along with the sound attenuation when the sound signal traverses through the cavity region around the underwater vehicle.The linear wave propagation is studied to obtain the influence of bubbly liquid on the acoustic wave propagation in the cavity region.The sound attenuation coefficient and the sound speed formula of the bubbly liquid are presented.Based on the sound attenuation coefficients with various vapor volume fractions,the attenuation of sound intensity is calculated under large cavitation number conditions.The result shows that the sound intensity attenuation is fairly small in a certain condition.Consequently,the intensity attenuation can be neglected in engineering.     

Acoustic field and array response uncertainties in stratified ocean media

The change-of-variables theorem of probability theory is applied to compute acoustic field and array beam power probability density functions (pdfs) in uncertain ocean environments represented by stratified, attenuating ocean waveguide models. Computational studies for one and two-layer waveguides investigate the functional properties of the acoustic field and array beam power pdfs. For the studies, the acoustic parameter uncertainties are represented by parametric pdfs. The field and beam response pdfs are computed directly from the parameter pdfs using the normal-mode representation and the change-of-variables theorem. For two-dimensional acoustic parameter uncertainties of sound speed and attenuation, the field and beam power pdfs exhibit irregular functional behavior and singularities associated with stationary points of the mapping, defined by acoustic propagation, from the parameter space to the field or beam power space. Implications for the assessment of orthogonal polynomial expansion and other methods for computing acoustic field pdfs are discussed.     

Male sperm whale acoustic behavior observed from multipaths at a single hydrophone

Sperm whales generate transient sounds (clicks) when foraging. These clicks have been described as echolocation sounds, a result of having measured the source level and the directionality of these signals and having extrapolated results from biosonar tests made on some small odontocetes. The authors propose a passive acoustic technique requiring only one hydrophone to investigate the acoustic behavior of free-ranging sperm whales. They estimate whale pitch angles from the multipath distribution of click energy. They emphasize the close bond between the sperm whale's physical and acoustic activity, leading to the hypothesis that sperm whales might, like some small odontocetes, control click level and rhythm. An echolocation model estimating the range of the sperm whale's targets from the interclick interval is computed and tested during different stages of the whale's dive. Such a hypothesis on the echolocation process would indicate that sperm whales echolocate their prey layer when initiating their dives and follow a methodic technique when foraging.     

Geoacoustic inversion for bottom parameters in a thermocline environment in the northern area of the South China Sea

Bottom acoustic parameters have important influence on the application of underwater acoustic propagation and source location.The acoustic parameters of the seabed in the northern of the South China Sea(SCS) were inversed using the experiment data from an acoustic experiment in 2015.Based on the comprehensive analysis of the influence of the sound speed fluctuation and the geoacoustic model on seabed inversion,the multi-parameter hybrid acoustic inversion scheme is improved by selecting the equivalent mean sound speed profile(SSP) and half-infinite liquid bottom model to save the inversion dimensions in the matched field processing(MFP) inversion.The inverted bottom sound speed and density are in good agreement with the core sampling measurements.The nonlinear empirical relationship of the attenuation coefficient with frequency is given out.The inversion results are meaningful to the sound propagation research and application in the northern area of the SCS.     

Spatial attenuation of different sound field components in a water layer and shallow-water sediments

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of spatial attenuation of low-frequency vector-scalar sound fields in shallow water. The experiments employed a towed pneumatic cannon and spatially separated four-component vector-scalar receiver modules. Narrowband analysis of received signals made it possible to estimate the attenuation coefficients of the first three modes in the frequency of range of 26–182 Hz and calculate the frequency dependences of the sound absorption coefficients in the upper part of bottom sediments. We analyze the experimental and calculated (using acoustic calibration of the waveguide) laws of the drop in sound pressure and orthogonal vector projections of the oscillation velocity. It is shown that the vertical projection of the oscillation velocity vector decreases significantly faster than the sound pressure field.     

An echolocation visualization and interface system for dolphin research

The present study describes the development and testing of a tool for dolphin research. This tool was able to visualize the dolphin echolocation signals as well as function as an acoustically operated "touch screen." The system consisted of a matrix of hydrophones attached to a semitransparent screen, which was lowered in front of an underwater acrylic panel in a dolphin pool. When a dolphin aimed its sonar beam at the screen, the hydrophones measured the received sound pressure levels. These hydrophone signals were then transferred to a computer where they were translated into a video image that corresponds to the dynamic sound pressure variations in the sonar beam and the location of the beam axis. There was a continuous projection of the image back onto the hydrophone matrix screen, giving the dolphin an immediate visual feedback to its sonar output. The system offers a whole new experimental methodology in dolphin research and since it is software-based, many different kinds of scientific questions can be addressed. The results were promising and motivate further development of the system and studies of sonar and cognitive abilities of dolphins.     

南海北部负跃层环境下海底参数声学反演

利用2015年南海北部声学实验的实验数据,对海底声学参数进行反演。在综合分析声速起伏及海底模型对海底反演影响的基础上,通过选择等效的海水声速剖面和海底模型,改进了多参量联合地声反演方法,使得其不仅能解决反演中的多值性问题,还能适用于负跃层起伏环境下的声学反演。即当用匹配场反演海底声速和用传播损失反演海底衰减时,如果温跃层内有内波等随机起伏,可使用传播路径上平均声速剖面和单层等效海底进行声场计算。反演得到的海底声速和密度结果与海底采样测量符合较好,拟合给出了海底衰减系数随频率的非线性经验关系式。反演结果可为南海北部声传播规律研究与应用提供海底参数。      

Simulation of the acoustic field emitted from medical linear transducer in a heterogeneous tissue

A numerical model is developed to simulate the acoustic field in heterogeneous tissue from a medical linear transducer.The coupled full-wave equation for nonlinear ultrasound is solved using a staggered-grid finite difference time domain method.The distribution of acoustic pressure and power in human abdominal wall with heterogeneities in sound speed,density,and nonlinear parameter are obtained.Compared with homogeneous medium,when sound speed in tissue is uniform and density unchanged,the acoustic energy decreases only1.8 dB in the focal region;when density in tissue is uniform and sound speed unchanged,the energy decreases 3.8 dB in the focal region,which is almost the same as heterogeneous tissue.Thus,the primary factor of the aberration of focused beam is the heterogeneous distribution of the tissue sound speed.     

One-dimensional numerical simulations of random sound impulses

Abstract

We perform one-dimensional numerical simulations of small-amplitude acoustic pulses in space- and time-dependent random mass density and time-dependent velocity fields. Numerical results reveal that: (a) random fields affect the speeds, amplitudes and, consequently, shapes of sound pulses; (b) for weak random fields and short propagation times the numerical data converge with the analytical results of the mean field theory which says that a space-dependent (time-dependent) random field leads to wave attenuation (amplification) and all random fields speed up sound pulses; (c) for sufficiently strong random fields and long propagation times numerical simulations reveal pulse splitting into smaller components, parts of which propagate much slower than a wave pulse in a non-random medium. These slow waves build an initial stage of a wave localization phenomenon. However, this effect can be very weak in a real three-dimensional medium.     

Acoustic characteristics of a heavy duty vehicle cooling module

Studies dedicated to the determination of acoustic characteristics of an automotive cooling package are presented. A shrouded subsonic axial fan is mounted in a wall separating an anechoic- and a reverberation room. This enables a unique separation of the up- and downstream sound fields. Microphone measurements were acquired of the radiated sound as a function of rotational speed, fan type and components included in the cooling module. The aim of the present work is to investigate the effect of a closely mounted radiator upstream of the impeller on the SPL spectral distribution. Upon examination of the SPL spectral shape, features linked specifically to the source and system are revealed. The properties of a reverberant sound field combined with the method of spectral decomposition permit an estimation of the source spectral distribution and the acoustic transfer response, respectively. Additionally, purely intrinsic acoustic properties of the radiator are scrutinized by standardized ISO methods. A new methodology comprising a dipole sound source is adopted to circumvent limitation of transmission loss measurement in the low frequency range. The sound attenuation caused by the radiator alone was found to be negligible.     

Acoustic characteristics of composite materials as acoustic window at oblique incidence of sound waves

This paper described a method for estimating the acoustic characteristics of composite materials at oblique incidence of sound waves. Composite materials are used as acoustic windows of SONAR to protect the internal sensors and electronic parts from water. In this study the composite material of glass reinforced plastic and polyurethane was used as the specimen. As the acoustic characteristics the velocities and attenuation coefficients of sound waves through the composite material were measured in the high frequency range. The insertion loss was also measured as a function of incident angle at 200 and 76 kHz, respectively. The attenuation coefficients in the low frequency range were estimated by interpolating the measured attenuation in the high frequency range with power-law form fitting. A four-medium layer model was proposed to estimate the insertion loss of composite materials at oblique incidence of sound waves in the low frequency range. The four-medium layer model well described the experimentally measured insertion loss at the high frequency range. It suggests that the insertion loss of the composite materials can be well estimated as a function of incident angle in the low frequency range.     

非均匀组织医学超声发射声场仿真

为了分析医学超声在非均匀组织中的分布特性,建立了超声发射声场的计算模型。采用交错网格有限差分法对耦合超声非线性方程进行数值求解,获得了声速、密度及非线性参数非均匀分布情况下人体腹壁组织内的超声声场分布数据。同均匀介质相比:当声速均匀而密度非均匀时,声束仍聚焦良好,焦点处声能下降了1.8 dB;当密度均匀而声速非均匀时,声束发散严重,焦点处声能下降了3.8 dB,下降程度与非均匀组织接近。组织声速在空间分布的非均匀性是导致聚焦声束能量分布畸变的主要原因。