The Reflection of Acoustic Waves in Sea Water from an Ice Covered Surface.

Abstract

Measurements of the acoustic reflectivity of the lower surface of sea ice were made at several locations in the channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1971 to 1973. The distance between the projector and hydrophone was typically 100 to 300 m; the grazing angle at the ice-water interface ranged up to 30 deg, and the frequency limits were 200 Hz and 20,000 Hz. The measured reflectivities show large excursions from unity. Reflectivities of -15 dB are not uncommon in spite of the uniform flatness of the ice-water interface and in spite of the shallowness of the grazing angle. However, a calculation based on Kirchhoff's Integral Theorem and involving an integration over the interface indicates that the observed undulation in the ice-water interface is sufficient to account for the observed results.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1977
Accession Number
ADA047298

Entities

People

  • J. Ganton
  • R. Verrall

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Frequencies
  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Geometry
  • Grazing Angles
  • Ice
  • Integrals
  • Measurement
  • Power Spectra
  • Reflection
  • Scattering
  • Sea Ice
  • Sea Water
  • Underwater Sound
  • Water

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Polar and Arctic Studies