Ocean acoustic tomography as a data assimilation problem

The ocean acoustic tomographic (OAT) approach to sound speed field estimation is generalized to include a variety of sources of information of interest such as an oceanographic model of the sound speed field, direct local sound speed measurements, and a full field acoustic propagation model as well as measurements. The inverse problem is presented as a four-dimensional field estimation problem using a variational approach commonly used in oceanographic data assimilation. The current OAT approach is shown to be a special case of the general framework. The matched-field tomography (MFT) approach is also discussed within this context. A simple implementation of this novel approach is then investigated in the absence of a suitable oceanographic model, and acoustic propagation is accounted for using a standard parabolic equation model. The inverse equations derived are validated numerically through a simple inversion example, and some issues on environmental mismatch and computations are discussed. The developments then provide a basic framework for ongoing data-model melding in acoustically focused oceanographic sampling (AFOS) network     

Modeling Propagation and Reverberation Sensitivity to Oceanographic and Seabed Variability

The propagation of bottom and oceanographic variability through to the variability of acoustic transmissions and reverberation is evaluated with a simple adiabatic model interacting with Gaussian distributed uncertainty in a narrow frequency band. Results show that there is significant sensitivity of time series and reverberation uncertainty to different types of environmental uncertainty. For propagation over uncertain bottoms, it is shown that it is that later part of the time series, corresponding to the highest angle energy reflecting most often off the surface and bottom, that is most sensitive to bottom uncertainty. This implies that the larger reverberation contributions from the highest grazing angles with the largest scattering strength is also the most uncertain. Conversely, it is the lowest angle arrivals which are most sensitive to uncertainty in the sound-speed profile. These behaviors are predicted analytically by the theory [K.D. LePage, in “Impact of Littoral Environmental Variability on Acoustic Predictions and Sonar Performance,” Kluwer, 2002, pp. 353-360].     

Combined Geoacoustic Inversion of Propagation and Reverberation Data

Sonar performance predictions in shallow water are strongly dependent on good knowledge of the geoacoustic and scattering properties of the seabed. One technique to extract information about the bottom is to use a towed source and a towed horizontal array. This towed system has been shown to be applicable for characterizing the bottom properties locally by inversion of the acoustic signals received directly on the towed array at short ranges. The same towed system has also been applied to extract bottom properties from long-range reverberation data providing effective bottom properties over a large area. However, independent geoacoustic inversion of the short-range propagation and long-range reverberation data can introduce low sensitivity and uncertainty in the extracted bottom properties. An attempt to resolve this low sensitivity and ambiguity is made by a simultaneous geoacoustic inversion of short-range propagation and long-range reverberation data with the intention of constraining the possible solutions of the bottom properties.      

Boundary characterization experiment series overview

Ocean acoustic propagation and reverberation in continental shelf regions is often controlled by the seabed and sea surface boundaries. A series of three multi-national and multi-disciplinary experiments was conducted between 2000-2002 to identify and measure key ocean boundary characteristics. The frequency range of interest was nominally 500-5000 Hz with the main focus on the seabed, which is generally considered as the boundary of greatest importance and least understood. Two of the experiments were conducted in the Mediterranean in the Strait of Sicily and one experiment in the North Atlantic with sites on the outer New Jersey Shelf (STRATAFORM area) and on the Scotian Shelf. Measurements included seabed reflection, seabed, surface, and biologic scattering, propagation, reverberation, and ambient noise along with supporting oceanographic, geologic, and geophysical data. This paper is primarily intended to provide an overview of the experiments and the strategies that linked the various measurements together, with detailed experiment results contained in various papers in this volume and other sources.     

多波束测深海底混响仿真研究

海底混响是海洋混响的重要组成部分,采用模拟仿真进行验证分析,是仿真技术的一项重要应用。采用单元散射模型,研究在单发射阵元下,分布在同一直线上多个接收阵元接收的海底回波,忽略声波传播的相位起伏,只考虑振幅起伏,将传播损失、声吸收系数、海底反射损失、海底沉积层密度等参数带入海底混响仿真数学模型,仿真海底混响,使其更加接近海底的实际情况。     

Effect of the Internal Tide on Acoustic Transmission Loss at Midfrequencies

Nonlinear internal waves are a common event on the continental shelf. The waves depress the high-gradient region of the thermocline and thicken the surface mixed layer with consequent effect on acoustic propagation. After the waves have passed, it may take several hours for the thermocline to rise to its prewave level. To examine the effect of the rising thermocline, oceanographic and acoustic data collected during the 2006 Shallow Water Experiment (SW06) are analyzed. Midfrequency acoustic data (1.5–10.5 kHz) taken for several hours at both fixed range (550 m) and along a tow track (0.1–8.1 km) are studied. At the fixed range, the rising thermocline is shown to increase acoustic intensity by approximately 5 dB . Along the tow track, the transmission loss changes 2 dB for a source–receiver pair that straddles the thermocline. Using oceanographic moorings up to 2.2 km away from the acoustic receiver, a model for the rising thermocline is developed. This ocean model is used as input to a broadband acoustic model. Results from the combined model are shown to be in good agreement with experimental observation. The effects on acoustic signals are shown to be observable, significant, and predictable.      

Effects of internal waves on sound pulse propagation in the Straitsof Florida

An unexplained result of broad-band transmission experiments made more than ten years ago by DeFerrari in the Straits of Florida (center frequency ~500 Hz, bandwidth ~100 Hz, water depth ~200-m, range ~20 km) is that the measured pulse response functions failed to show the expected multipath replicas of the transmitted pulse and instead were smeared into a single broad cluster (duration ~50-~350 ms) in which the unresolved multipaths fluctuated rapidly in geophysical time (coherence time ≪12 min) leaving only a relatively stable envelope that is useful for oceanographic inversion. It is demonstrated here that the effects of internal waves on sound pulse propagation in the Straits of Florida can explain these observed results, and it is suggested that similar instabilities of acoustic multipaths due to internal waves are to be expected in other shallow-water propagation conditions. The demonstration is based on numerical simulations with the broad-band UMPE acoustic model that includes multiple forward scattering from volume inhomogeneities induced by internal wave fluctuations that are described by a broad spectrum of excitation. The simulated temporal variability, stability, and coherence of acoustic pulse arrivals are displayed on geophysical time scales from seconds to many hours and are qualitatively in agreement with the measured data in the Straits of Florida     

Acoustic Ducting, Reflection, Refraction, and Dispersion by Curved Nonlinear Internal Waves in Shallow Water

Nonlinear internal waves in shallow water have been shown to be effective ducts of acoustic energy, through theory, numerical modeling, and experiment. To date, most work on such ducting has concentrated on rectilinear internal wave ducts or those with very slight curvature. In this paper, we examine the acoustic effects of significant curvature of these internal waves. (By significant curvature, we mean lateral deviation of the internal wave duct by more than half the spacing between internal waves over an acoustic path, giving a transition from ducting to antiducting.) We develop basic analytical models of these effects, employ fully 3-D numerical models of sound propagation and scattering, and examine simultaneous acoustical and oceanographic data from the 2006 Shallow Water Experiment (SW06). It will be seen that the effects of curvature should be evident in the mode amplitudes and arrival angles, and that observations are consistent with curvature, though with some possible ambiguity with other scattering mechanisms.      

Shallow-water bottom reverberation measurements

High-frequency bottom reverberation measurements were made at an experimental site in the Gulf of Mexico. The acoustic data were taken as a function of frequency (40-180 kHz) and grazing angle (40-33°). The measured acoustic reverberation results are compared to predictions made by models developed by Jackson et al. (1986, 1996) and Boyle and Chotiros (1995). The models used inputs from the analysis of sediment cores and stereophotography. The model predictions show differences from each other and from the data. The results show reverberation-level variabilities as a function of frequency that cannot be accurately predicted by these models     

Acoustic telemetry--An overview

Acoustic telemetry from underwater submersibles and sensors has been pursued ever since it was recognized that the ocean could support signal transmission. While it has been evident that some form of communication is possible, the ocean has proved to be a distressingly difficult medium in which to achieve high data rates. High data rate transmission requires a wide bandwidth which is severely constrained in the ocean because of the absorption of high-frequency energy. Moreover, the ocean is a very reverberant environment with both time and frequency spreading of signals; this further limits data transmission rates. The net effect of the bandwidth and reverberation constraints has led to either acoustic telemetry systems with low data rates or to the use of tethered systems. Over the years, various forms of acoustic communication systems have been developed. These have included direct AM and SSB for underwater telephones, FM for sensor data, FSK and DPSK for digital data, and parametric sonars for narrow-beam systems. As offshore operations have increased, several other systems have been proposed and/or built to respond to particular needs. In this paper, we review the underwater channel and the limitations that it imposes upon acoustic telemetry systems. We then survey some of the systems that have been built (excluding military systems) and indicate how they use various communication system principles to overcome these limitations.     

Simulation of non-Rayleigh reverberation and clutter

The simulation of active sonar reverberation time series has traditionally been done using either a computationally intensive point-scatterer model or a Rayleigh-distributed reverberation-envelope model with a time-varying power level. Although adequate in scenarios where reverberation arises from a multitude of scatterers, the Rayleigh model is not representative of the target-like non-Rayleigh reverberation or clutter commonly observed with modern high-resolution sonar systems operating in shallow-water environments. In this paper, techniques for simulating non-Rayleigh reverberation are developed within the context of the finite-number-of-scatterers representation of K-distributed reverberation, which allows control of the reverberation-envelope statistics as a function of system (beamwidth and bandwidth) and environmental (scatterer density and size) parameters. To avoid the high computational effort of the point-scatterer model, reverberation is simulated at the output of the matched filter and is generated using efficient approximate methods for forming K-distributed random variables. Finite impulse response filters are used to introduce the effects of multipath propagation and the shape of the reverberation power spectrum, the latter of which requires the development of a prewarping of the K distribution parameters to control the reverberation-envelope statistics. The simulation methods presented in this paper will be useful in the testing and evaluation of active sonar signal processing algorithms, as well as for simulation-based research on the effects of the sonar system and environment on the reverberation-envelope probability density function.     

Environmental Effects of Waveguide Uncertainty on Coherent Aspects of Propagation, Scattering, and Reverberation

The robustness of the coherence of waveguide propagation to environmental uncertainty becomes an important consideration for systems that seek to exploit coherence for gain. Examples include matched field processing for passive localization and time reversal mirrors (TRMs) for active systems. Here, efficient normal mode representations of midfrequency time-domain propagation using the narrowband and adiabatic approximations are used to explore the deterioration of coherent active system predictability and performance in the presence sound-speed perturbations in the water column. Results show that for TRMs the reverberation level at the focal range is increased, and the scattering from an illuminated object is reduced for ensembles over oceanographic uncertainty. Results are obtained analytically as formal averages and are believed to represent a lower limit on the deterioration of TRM performance in the presence of environmental uncertainty for shallow-water waveguides.     

Characteristics of acoustic propagation to the eastern vertical line array receiver during the summer 1996 New England shelfbreak PRIMER experiment

During July and August of 1996, the summer component of the New England shelfbreak front PRIMER experiment was fielded in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, at a site due south of Martha's Vineyard, MA. This study produced acoustic transmission data from a network of moored sources and receivers in conjunction with very-high-resolution oceanography measurements. This paper analyzes receptions at the northeast array receiver from two 400 Hz acoustic tomography sources, with the transmission paths going from the continental slope onto the continental shelf. These data, along with forward acoustic-propagation modeling based on moored oceanographic data, SeaSoar hydrography measurements, and bottom measurements, reveal many new and interesting aspects of acoustic propagation in a complicated slope-shelf environment. For example, one sees that both the shelfbreak front and tidally generated soliton internal wave packets produce stronger mode coupling than previously expected, leading to an interesting time-and-range-variable population of the acoustic normal modes. Additionally, the arrival time wander and the signal spread of acoustic pulses show variability that can be attributed to the presence of a frontal meander and variability in the soliton field. These and other effects are discussed in this paper, with an emphasis on creating a strong connection between the environmental measurements and the acoustic field characteristics.     

Shallow water reverberation: normal-mode model predictions comparedwith bistatic towed-array measurements

A normal-mode model for calculating reverberation in shallow water is presented. Some illustrative calculations are given for the bistatic case and for vertical and horizontal line-array receivers. Emphasis is on comparison with measurements of bistatic reverberation obtained at a shallow-water area in the Mediterranean. The data are from explosive sources received by a towed array, analyzed in one-tenth-decade frequency bands at subkilohertz frequencies. Model calculations for a flat-bottomed environment indicate a strong dependence on propagation conditions and a weak dependence on beam steering direction. Preliminary comparisons give quite good agreement between measured reverberation and model predictions, but point to the need for extending modeling efforts to handle range-dependent environments     

南海北部声散射季节变化

声散射是重要的声学现象,海洋水体产生的高频声散射信号既可用于开展多种目的的声学海洋学研究,也可能对水下声学设备产生干扰,而海洋水体背景声散射具有显著的时空变异特征,因此针对特定海区开展声散射时变观测具有重要意义。本文利用在南海北部布放的锚系系统所搭载的声学多普勒流速剖面仪,获取了覆盖4个季节的累计约80 d的声散射数据,数据包括75 kHz和300 kHz两个频段,观测水深几乎覆盖了从海面到约600 m水深的整个水体。结果表明,水体在垂向上分布着上散射层和深散射层2个主要散射层。上散射层分布深度在冬夏较浅,位于约100 m以浅,在春秋较深,位于约200 m以浅;深散射层分布深度同样为冬季最浅,位于约300 m以深,但夏季则最深,位于约400 m以深。因此,两散射层的距离在夏季最远,在春秋最近。2个散射层的声散射强度（Sv）同样具有明显的季节变化,上散射层散射强度夏秋较强而春冬较弱,深散射层则正好相反。     

Overview of SAX99: environmental considerations

A 1-km² area located 2 km off the Florida Panhandle (30°22.6'N; 86°38.7'W) was selected as the site to conduct high-frequency acoustic seafloor penetration, sediment propagation, and bottom scattering experiments. Side scan, multibeam, and normal incidence chirp acoustic surveys as well as subsequent video surveys, diver observations, and vibra coring, indicate a uniform distribution of surficial and subbottom seafloor characteristics within the area. The site, in 18-19 m of water, is characterized by 1-2-m-thick fine-to-medium clean sand and meets the logistic and scientific requirements specified for the acoustic experiments. This paper provides a preliminary summary of the meteorological, oceanographic, and seafloor conditions found during the experiments and describes the important physical and biological processes that control the spatial distribution and temporal changes in these characteristics     

The calibration of a laser light line scan method for determining local interface roughness of the ocean floor

An accurate model of acoustic interaction with sandy sediments is crucial to the application of SONAR in shallow-water environments. Because acoustic scattering from interface roughness plays a major role in the reverberation from and penetration into sandy sediments, it is imperative to be able to accurately measure the roughness of the sediment/water interface. An interface roughness measurement system has been developed in which a laser light sheet is projected onto the ocean floor. A resulting image can then be analyzed to determine the interface roughness. The system has been shown to achieve a height measurement error of less than 0.9 mm over a spatial frequency range of 15 to 60 cycles/m with about 0.5 mm standard deviation. These spatial frequencies correspond to acoustic Bragg frequencies of 11 to 45 kHz for backscattering applications. The error in wavelength was less than 5 mm with a standard deviation of about 1.0 mm. The system is inexpensive, easily deployable and automated in terms of data extraction. This system could greatly aid in determining the local interface profile for in situ acoustic scattering experiments.     

RS与GIS在海洋地质调查中的应用

近几十年来,海洋的重要性愈来愈明显,海洋地质调查作为获取海洋数据的重要手段逐渐受到关注。海洋数据与陆地数据相比,具有多样性和时空复杂性的特点。近年来遥感技术和地理信息系统技术发展迅速,遥感的实时性、大面积监测性的特点以及地理信息系统对空间数据的有序管理及支持辅助决策的功能为海洋地质调查开辟了新的前景。笔者结合遥感和地理信息系统的特点、发展趋势,介绍了其在海洋地质调查领域中的应用,并对其应用前景做出展望。     

Consideration of fine-scale coastal oceanography and 3-D acoustics effects for the ESME sound exposure model

Results and recommendations for evaluating the effects of fine-scale oceanographic scattering and three-dimensional (3-D) acoustic propagation variability on the Effects of Sound on the Marine Environment (ESME) acoustic exposure model are presented. Pertinent acoustic scattering theory is briefly reviewed and ocean sound-speed fluctuation models are discussed. Particular attention is given to the nonlinear and linear components of the ocean internal wave field as a source of sound-speed inhomogeneities. Sound scattering through the mainly isotropic linear internal wave field is presented and new results relating to acoustic scattering by the nonlinear internal wave field in both along and across internal wave wavefront orientations are examined. In many cases, there are noteworthy fine-scale induced intensity biases and fluctuations of order 5-20 dB.