Analysis of Temperature Variability Between Davidson Seamount and Sur Ridge: The Tomographic Inverse Problem
Abstract
As part of the Innovative Coastal-Ocean Observing Network (ICON), a receiver located on Sur Ridge monitored transmissions of low frequency tomography signals from a sound source on Davidson Seamount. The received signals were transmitted via underwater cable to the Point Sur Ocean Acoustics Observatory (DAD) from July 1998 through December 1999. Processed signals revealed a stable, resolvable arrival pattern. Subsequent analysis included forward acoustic modeling to calculate predicted raypaths. Observed arrivals were then associated with modeled raypaths, extracting observed travel times over the 17 months time series. Using a stochastic inverse approach, the extracted travel times were inverted for spatial and temporal variations of sound speed. Sound speed perturbation estimates were converted to temperature perturbations and compared to in situ mooring data, CTD transects along the acoustic path, and TOPEX/POSEIDEN satellite altimetry. Comparisons revealed that the tomoqraphic estimate is in general agreement with the in situ point measurements and the altimeter data. The methods discussed in this paper demonstrate the application of ocean acoustic tomoqraphy to study temperature variability along the central California coast.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA406081
Entities
People
- David O. Neander
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School