Acoustic Calibration in Shallow Water: Theory, Simulations, and a Preliminary Site Study

Abstract

Initial research on a new method for characterizing the acoustic properties of a shallow water site is documented. The method uses moored vertical transmitting and receiving arrays. By combining the array data with limited environmental data, the measured acoustic data are extrapolated to predict the coherent field and transmission loss over an extended region. Motivation for the problem and approach is given, and the theory of the extrapolation algorithm is presented. Numerical examples demonstrate the relative insensitivity of the method to knowledge about the sediment. An experiment to test the extrapolation procedure is contemplated for the summer of 1994, and a possible site off the Massachusetts-New Hampshire coast is considered. Using archival sound speed data and bathymetry, transmission loss is calculated for a region with a gently sloping bottom and is compared with extrapolated predictions. The extrapolation method is shown to be relatively insensitive to sound speed variability in the water column, but sensitive to changes in depth. Element spacing of greater than one-half the acoustic wavelength in both the transmitting and receiving arrays is shown to be adequate for some cases. Ocean acoustics, Acoustic calibration, Normal mode theory, Huygen's principle, Shallow water propagation, Field extrapolation

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA284338

Entities

People

  • D. Rouseff
  • M. Siderius
  • R. P. Porter
  • W. L. Fox

Organizations

  • University of Washington

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Properties
  • Algorithms
  • Attenuation
  • Bathymetry
  • Eigenvalues
  • Extrapolation
  • Geometry
  • Losses
  • Measurement
  • New Hampshire
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Sediments
  • Shallow Water
  • Transmission Loss
  • Transmitting
  • Water

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space