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.     

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 influence of internal waves on losses during sound propagation on a shelf

We discuss the results of investigations into the influence of internal waves on sound losses during propagation along stationary lanes on shelves of the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. Measurements were conducted with a Mollusk-07 autonomous vertical acoustic-hydrophysical measuring system and TONE-320 and FM-290–330 autonomous electromagnetic-type emitters generating a tonal acoustic signal and a frequency modulated signal, respectively. It is established that sound losses at 290–330 Hz as a result of internal waves do not exceed 5 dB. At the same time, intensive nonlinear internal wave packets that are relatively rare but characteristic of a shelf can increase losses up to 15 dB.     

Spatial correlation of hydroacoustic signals in a biaxial underwater sound channel

In the hydrological conditions of a biaxial sound channel, the cross-correlation between acoustic signals received at points spatially separated (from 10 to 63 km) along the sound propagation track is investigated. The signals are received by a narrow-beam array scanning in the vertical plane. The beam width is ～2° at the mean frequency (1 kHz) of a pseudo-noise signal. It is noted that, as the distance between the points of reception increases, the correlation decreases. This is mainly caused by the effect of the multipath propagation with an incomplete resolution of signals in arrival angles, rather than by changes in the “water” signal spectrum due to the attenuation.     

An evaluation of the accuracy of shallow water matched field inversion results

In this article the accuracy of geo-acoustic and geometric parameter estimates obtained through matched field inversion (MFI) was assessed. Multi-frequency MFI was applied to multi-tone data (200-600 Hz) received at a 2-km source/receiver range. The acoustic source was fixed and the signals were received at a vertical array. Simultaneously with the acoustic transmissions, a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth)-chain was towed along the acoustic track. A genetic algorithm was used for the global optimization, whereas a normal mode model was applied for the forward acoustic calculations. Acoustic data received at consecutive times were inverted and the stability of the inverted parameters was determined. Also, the parameter estimates were compared with independent measurements, such as multi-channel seismic surveys (for geo-acoustic parameters). The obtained uncertainty in the inversion results was assumed to have two distinct origins. The first origin is the inversion method itself, since each optimization will come up with some solution close to the exact optimum. Parameter coupling and the fact that some parameters hardly influence the acoustic propagation further contribute to this uncertainty. The second is due to oceanographic variability. Both contributions were evaluated through simulation. The contribution of oceanographic variability was evaluated through synthetic inversions that account for the actual sound speed variations as measured by the towed CTD-chain.     

Effect of a sloping bottom on sound propagation

Acoustical Physics - The paper presents the results of field measurements of acoustic fields generated in autumn hydrological conditions of the Sea of Japan shelf by a TON-320Hz autonomous signal...     

南中国海存在孤立子内波条件下的声场时间相关半径

在动态的海洋环境中,由于数据向量和拷贝场之间的失配,匹配场处理器的性能会发生退化。数据向量的时间相关半径是这种退化的一种量度。通过2001年ASIAEX南海实验中垂直阵上水听器接收到的声场数据求取了400 Hz窄带信号的声场时间相关。从实验数据处理结果观察到,伴随着传播路径上非线性内波的进入,声场的时间相关半径减小。同时利用一个二维的平流冻结海洋模型和传播路径上三个温度链的温度数据对声场进行了数值仿真,分析了不同频率下的声场时间相关半径。结果表明:实验结果与仿真的400 Hz信号的声场时间相关较为一致。可见,在时变的海洋环境下,声信道中存在孤立子内波将会使声场的时间相关半径大大缩短。     

Observationally constrained modeling of sound in curved ocean internal waves: examination of deep ducting and surface ducting at short range

A study of 400 Hz sound focusing and ducting effects in a packet of curved nonlinear internal waves in shallow water is presented. Sound propagation roughly along the crests of the waves is simulated with a three-dimensional parabolic equation computational code, and the results are compared to measured propagation along fixed 3 and 6 km source/receiver paths. The measurements were made on the shelf of the South China Sea northeast of Tung-Sha Island. Construction of the time-varying three-dimensional sound-speed fields used in the modeling simulations was guided by environmental data collected concurrently with the acoustic data. Computed three-dimensional propagation results compare well with field observations. The simulations allow identification of time-dependent sound forward scattering and ducting processes within the curved internal gravity waves. Strong acoustic intensity enhancement was observed during passage of high-amplitude nonlinear waves over the source/receiver paths, and is replicated in the model. The waves were typical of the region (35 m vertical displacement). Two types of ducting are found in the model, which occur asynchronously. One type is three-dimensional modal trapping in deep ducts within the wave crests (shallow thermocline zones). The second type is surface ducting within the wave troughs (deep thermocline zones).     

Low-frequency horizontal acoustic refraction caused by internal wave solitons in a shallow sea

The effect of internal wave solitons on the sound field generated by a point source in a shallow sea is considered. In the framework of the theory of “horizontal rays and vertical modes,” the sound field pattern governed by the aforementioned hydrodynamic effect is investigated. It is shown that solitons can induce time-periodic focusing and defocusing of horizontal rays propagating at shallow angles to the internal wave front. This may result in the formation of “dynamical” horizontal sound channels, which, in its turn, results in considerable temporal fluctuations of the field along the acoustic track oriented along the internal wave front. For the sound field calculations, an approach is developed on the basis of the parabolic approximation in the horizontal plane and the mode representation in the vertical direction. The results obtained can be used for remote monitoring of internal wave packets in a shallow sea.     

Long-range sound propagation in the region of the subarctic front

The data of two experiments performed in the northwestern Pacific are presented. The propagation path crosses the northern boundary of the subarctic frontal zone. The influence of the frontal zone on the time structure and intensity of the sound field is studied. This influence most clearly manifests itself in the range dependence of the level of the normalized sound field at frequencies of 63–800 Hz. In the region of crossing the boundary of the frontal zone, a change of 1.5–2 dB in the sound field level is observed with localization in distance. In this region, a pronounced increase in the frequency-independent component of the exponential attenuation is also observed (by 0.015 dB/km for explosion-generated signals received at a depth of 600 m). At depths of 150–800 m, a zone of weak variations of the propagation loss is present in the vertical structure of the sound field at the 100-km part of the path in the region of crossing the front. In the experiment with explosion-generated signals, phenomena that are unrelated to the frontal zone are observed as well, namely, the appearance of reverberation forerunners (prereverberation) on separate parts of the path and the presence of bottom-reflected signals on one of the path fractions with a local bottom rise.     

内陆湖中声传输起伏

本文对于存在负跃层的内陆湖中的内波,及其引起的声传输起伏进行了实验研究,在1.7、0.5km上测得声传输起伏统计特性。声传输起伏功率诺与内波谱有一定的关联性,其统计特性显现所测内波垂直位移谱接近ω^-2,声振幅起伏谱接近ω^-1。本文报导了内陆湖夏季负跃层中存在内波和水下内波的基本面貌特征。给出了湖水介质动态变化的规律和参数,为湖区环境下声传输特性的预报提供了依据性的参数。     

Characteristics of the reverberation signal at a vertical array with tonal insonification of a shallow-water basin

The angular and spectral characteristics of reverberation signals on a fixed path are studied by using vertical receiving arrays with a tonal insonification of the basin. The choice of the frequency range F ～ 200–300 Hz is caused, first, by the low propagation loss and the availability of high-power acoustic transducers for this range and, second, by the possibility to study the phenomena of sound scattering by the sea surface for comparable wavelengths of surface and acoustic waves. The data of experiments on two paths are considered: the first path is in the Barents Sea with propagation conditions corresponding to a uniform waveguide with sea depths H ～ 110–120 m, whereas the second path is in the White Sea with propagation conditions corresponding to a nonuniform waveguide where the sea depth varies from 30 to 250 m.     

Effect of tide on sound propagation in the shelf zone of the Sea of Japan

Experimental and numerical studies of the effect of surface and internal tides on 315-Hz sound waves propagating along fixed paths, 260 m to 23 km in lengths, oriented across the shelf of the Sea of Japan, are discussed. The measurements are performed using self-contained radio-hydroacoustic receiving stations, which are equipped with hydrophones and scalar-vector receivers, and two vertical acoustic-hydrophysical measuring systems. For the sound signals propagating along the longer paths, the intensity fluctuations are shown to loose their linear relation to the tide-caused changes in the waveguide parameters because of the refraction by the sound speed inhomogeneities induced by different hydrodynamic processes. However, it is established that the phase variations can serve as quantitative indicators of the integral changes in the waveguide parameters.     

Spatial correlation of explosion-generated signals received by longitudinally separated hydrophones in the Mediterranean Sea

Results of an experiment carried out in the Mediterranean Sea on a propagation track ～400 km in length are presented. The sources of sound were 2.5-kg trinitrotoluene charges. The signals were received by three hydrophones spatially separated along the track by distances of 100 and 300 m. The hydrophones were carried by radio buoys, which were connected with each other and with the receiving vessel. The frequency band under study was 240–340 Hz. Under the conditions of the experiment, the spatial correlation interval obtained with averaging over the spreading time of multipath signals proved to be smaller than 100 m. It was shown that the resolution of signals arriving over individual ray paths or in narrow ray bundles considerably increased this interval. In this case, its experimental value was found to exceed 300 m.     

Propagation of pulse pseudorandom signals from a shelf into shallow water in winter hydrological conditions of the Sea of Japan

The paper discusses the results of an experiment conducted in the Sea of Japan in March 2016 on an acoustic track 194 km long under winter hydrological conditions. We have studied the most complex case of propagation of pulse pseudorandom signals from the shelf into shallow water during vortex generation on the acoustic track. Analysis of the experimentally obtained pulse characteristics have shown that the maximum first approach of acoustic energy recorded at all points agrees well with the calculation. This testifies to the fact that at a given reception depth, the first to arrive are pulses that have passed in the near-surface sound channel over the shortest distance and at small angles close to zero. We propose a technique for calculating the mean sound velocity on the track from satellite monitoring data on the surface temperature, which makes it possible to rely on the successful application of the results obtained in acoustic ranging and navigation problems.     

Losses during sound propagation on the shelf

The paper discusses the results of studying how changes in the hydrological conditions affect losses that sound undergoes as it propagates along a stationary track in Vityaz Bay in the Sea of Japan. Measurements were conducted with an Mollusk-07 autonomous vertical acousto-hydrophysical measurement system and an autonomous electromagnetic emitter generating a frequency-modulated signal in the 280–340 Hz band. The modulation frequency was 0.3 Hz. It is shown that tide-, internal-wave-, and upwelling-caused variations in sound losses with a frequency of 285–335 Hz propagating along a stationary track with a length of 1640 m for seven days did not exceed 3 dB.     

Energy fluctuations of high-frequency sound signals in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear internal waves

The paper presents an analysis of energy fluctuations of high-frequency (2–4.5 kHz) sound signals propagating in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear (soliton-like) internal waves (2006 Shallow Water experiment, US Atlantic shelf). Signals were received by three single hydrophones in different directions at distances of ～4, ～12, and ～5 km from the source. The angle between the first two acoustic tracks was ～15°. The third track was almost an extension of the first and was on the other side of the source. A relatively short (one to two solitons) nonlinear internal wave packet first moved approximately along the first two tracks and then along the third track. It is demonstrated that in the presence of solitons on the track in the frequency spectrum of energy fluctuations, there is an isolated frequency that depends, in particular, on the angle between the soliton front and the acoustic track. The experimental results agree well with the theory previously proposed by the authors, where the occurrence mechanism of fluctuations is explained using the ray approach.     

水下声学滑翔机用于东印度洋声传播特性分析及声源估计

常规实验方法无法同步获取深海大尺度声学和水文数据,水下滑翔机可作为同步观测平台解决该问题.首先利用在东印度洋北部海域水下滑翔机同步获取的声传播和水文实验数据,分析了水下滑翔机的自噪声谱级和实验海区声传播特性,然后推算并修正了滑翔机水下运动轨迹,利用第一影区水下滑翔机接收声传播信号的脉冲多途到达时间差对声源进行测距与定深。潜标接收噪声与滑翔机自噪声谱级对比表明,水下滑翔机在海洋中无动力运动时的系统自噪声接近于潜标观测的海洋环境噪声。滑翔机实测的声传播损失与模型计算结果吻合较好,第一影区水下声源测距定深结果与实际位置较为一致,测距与定深的相对误差均小于5%。利用加载水听器的水下滑翔机可以实现水文环境数据与声学信号的同步观测,对深海声传播特性测量及定位算法研究具有重要意义。     

Experimental studies of sound diffraction by moving inhomogeneities under shallow-water conditions

The experimental data on the sound propagation and diffraction by moving test inhomogeneities under lake conditions are presented. It is shown that the diffracted signals under multimode propagation are adequately described by simplified theoretical models proposed earlier. The detection of the diffracted signals against the background of a fluctuating direct signal is demonstrated for the reception by a horizontal or vertical array. It is also shown that the direct and diffracted signals observed in the lake are similar in their characteristics to the signals in a shallow sea, which allows one to use the lake experiment for testing various underwater acoustic techniques intended for shallow-sea conditions.