North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Abstract

The ultimate limits of long-range sonar are imposed by ocean variability and the ambient sound field. Uncertainty due to ocean variability limits our ability to make accurate predictions of acoustic propagation. Scattering due to internal waves and other ocean processes limits the temporal and spatial coherence of the received signal. The long-term objectives of the North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory (NPAL) program are to understand the basic physics of low-frequency, broadband propagation in deep water, the effects of environmental variability on signal stability and coherence, and the extent to which acoustic methods, together with other measurements and coupled with ocean modeling, can yield estimates of the time-evolving ocean state useful for acoustic predictions. The goal is to determine the fundamental limits to signal processing in deep water imposed by ocean processes, enabling advanced signal processing techniques, including matched field processing and other adaptive array processing methods, to capitalize on the three-dimensional character of the sound and noise fields.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2006
Accession Number
ADA612162

Entities

People

  • Bruce D. Cornuelle
  • Matthew A. Dzieciuch
  • Peter F. Worcester
  • Walter Munk

Organizations

  • University of California Regents

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Measurement
  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Tomography
  • Acoustics
  • Data Acquisition
  • Deep Water
  • Frequency
  • Internal Waves
  • Ocean Acoustic Tomography
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Scattering
  • Signal Processing
  • Three Dimensional
  • Travel Time
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.