Oceanographic variability in shallow-water acoustics and the dualrole of the sea bottom

Acoustic propagation in shallow water is examined. Multipath propagation and extensive boundary interactions, which along with a host of other phenomena produce a highly variable and often unpredictable acoustic field, are discussed. The responsible mechanisms, and hence the acoustic effects, cover a wide range of temporal and spatial scales and are classified as either deterministic or random, although the two types often act in concert. Because of extensive interactions with the sound field, the bottom can severely degrade waterborne propagation, although the sea bottom (and subbottom) can provide a seismic path that not only is relatively stable, but exists even under environmental conditions that preclude an effective waterborne path. Propagation in the bottom is particularly significant at very low frequencies. These various aspects of shallow-water acoustics are illustrated using the results of experiments conducted in diverse geographic areas     

Oceanic sound channels around New Zealand

Configuration of major sound channels in the ocean around New Zealand is derived from the temperature and salinity data available from the region between latitudes 28°S and 56°S and between 158°E and 174°W. The “SOFAR channel” is established throughout the area northwards of the Antarctic Convergence, with its axis in a depth of about 1,300 m. Little variation in the depth of this axis was found except in the southern part of the subantarctie zone, where the weak vertical temperature stratification cannot maintain a velocity minimum; the axis of the SOFAR channel tends to decrease in depth as it loses its identity. In the northern part of the subantarctie region, a second channel was found at a depth of about 100 m. The depth of the axis of this “subantarctie channel” increases to about 500 m under the surface outcrop of the Subtropical Convergence. It loses its identity at about 400 m in the stronger vertical temperature stratification of the subtropical region. To the south of the Antarctic Convergence, an “antarctic channel” was found with its axis at a depth of some 400 m in a temperature inversion between Antarctic Winter Water and the underlying Pacific Deep Water.

Sound velocity on the surfaces defined by the channel axes is mapped. A ridge of maximum SOFAR velocity is defined extending east and west of the northern part of New Zealand. This feature does not seem to appear in the north Pacific and has been tentatively associated with the dynamics of east‐flowing subtropical currents in this region.     

Scale-dependent physical and geoacoustic property variability of shallow-water carbonate sediments from the Dry Tortugas, Florida

 Spatial variability of shallow-water carbonate sediments near Dry Tortugas, Florida, is scale-dependent. Wet bulk density, grain density, porosity, compressional wave velocity, and grain size variability generally increase down to 2.4 m vertically and 850 m laterally. Grain size is most variable, followed by porosity, wet bulk density, compressional wave velocity, and grain density bothvertically and laterally, consistent with Walther’s Law. Variability was empirically modeled by linear regression analysis to predict variability based on scale, characterize sediment property variability, and quantify sedimentisotropy.     

Dirunal variability and its quantification of subsurface sound scatterers in the western equatorial Pacific

A downwardf-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), suspended by a series of surface and subsurface floats and connecte to an anchroed ship, proided a quite stable platform to measure the, vertical profiles of backscatter strenght *BS) and three components of the velocith from 12 to 22 November 1992 at 1°30S and 156°15E, in the Intensive Flux Array (IFA) of TOGA/COARE. While the variability of the horizontal velocity was controlled by the semi-diurnal tide, BS and vertifal velocity were dominated by diurnal variability probably caused by the diel migration of zooplakton. The downward migration occurred early in the moring (0500–0700 in local time) and the upward one late in the afternoon (1700–1900). The average values of about 4 cm s^–1 for the sinking and rising speed were estimated from Doppler shift and BS isopleth displacement. The subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM) coincident with the top of the thermocline at 80–100 m was also detectable in the BS data during daytime when almost no migrating zooplankton remained in the upper 300 m. Backscatter signals from the SCM and thermocline were separated by corrlating the BS data with the chlorophylla and temperature data. The maximum contribution of the migrating zooplanktion, passively drifting phytoplankton and temperature gradient on BS was estimated to be 14.8, 7.0, 5.1 dB, respectively.     

Spatial variability of the structure of the Harpacticoida (Copepoda) crustacean assemblages in intertidal and shallow-water zones of European seas

On the basis of original and published data for 26 sites off Europe (the Barents, White, Black, Caspian, North, Baltic, Mediterranean, and Adriatic seas and the Atlantic Ocean) we assessed the variability of the near-shore benthic harpacticoid assemblages. A set of six life forms is recognized that retains its composition regardless of the geographical location and species composition of the assemblage. It is shown that the geographical variability of harpacticoid assemblages is low and intraregional and biotopical variations in the structure of these assemblages are often greater than their interregional (geographical) variability. It seems that the main factors that control the composition of species and life forms of harpacticoids are the characteristics of the sediments and the hydrodynamical processes that determine the structure of the sediments and the salinity.     

南海声速跃层分类及其季节变化

南海海底地势复杂,海域内跃层分布有其特殊性,研究声速跃层分布形态对海上军事活动和海洋战场建设有重要影响。利用50 a(1958~2007年)SODA(simple ocean data assimilation)月平均资料,采用垂直梯度法分别求得3种类型声速跃层的特征值。结果表明:冬季,3种类型声速跃层范围全年最小,厚度最薄,强度最弱;夏季,主跃层、双跃层范围全年最大,厚度最厚,深度大都较浅,强度最强。春秋季跃层的示性特征介于冬夏之间,秋季比春季变化明显。     

Reverberation-derived shallow-water bottom scattering strength

Determinations of acoustic scattering strength for sand bottoms have been made at several different shallow-water areas under downward refracting sound propagation conditions in the frequency decade below 1 kHz. The measurements have been made using explosive sources detonated at mid-water depth and bottom-mounted vertical and horizontal hydrophone line arrays as receivers. The ubiquitous presence of multipaths in shallow water prevents a direct-path scattering geometry, and scattering strength must be extracted from the full reverberation field, which complicates the determination of bottom grazing angle dependence of scattering. The major focus of this paper has been the variation of scattering strength with frequency (integrated over participating bottom angles), though estimates of the angular dependence of scattering strength have been made using the vertical receiving array. Typically the integrated scattering strength for sand bottoms reported (and elsewhere) are found to decrease below 1 kHz and in some instances to exhibit a minimum in the several hundred hertz range. Sand bottom scattering strengths below 1 kHz are significantly lower than those predicted by the Mackenzie formula and the limited angular dependence determinations have been found to be consistent with Lambert's law     

Multichannel moment detectors for transients in shallow-water noise

This paper presents an evaluation of second, third, and fourth-order moments for the passive detection of transient signals in both simulated Gaussian noise and measured noise. The measured noise was recorded by a vertical array located near the San Diego, CA, harbor and is dominated at low frequencies by ship-generated noise. The detectors assume neither noise nor signal stationarity and can use single or multiple channels of data. Simulation results indicate that the fourth-order moment detector often performs better than the energy detector in the correlated measured noise, with increasing channel contributions to the moment function, resulting in increased gain. The results in simulated Gaussian noise likewise favor the fourth-order moment detector, at least for the signals with significant fourth-order moments, but the ability of the higher order detector to discriminate against correlated noise is evident. Analysis over a 30-min segment of the measured noise with selected signals demonstrates that fourth-order detection gains can be reliably expected as the noise statistics change.     

Inversion in shallow-water using the WKB modal condition

In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme for extracting the complex bottom reflection coefficient (phase and amplitude) in a shallow water waveguide by using the WKB modal condition. The input data are the measured modal wavenumber (k_m) and the modal attenuation (β_m). The main advantages of this scheme are: 1) it is efficient, because there are no replica calculations as in the conventional matched field processing (MFP) scheme, 2) the inverted error induced by the “noise” of the contaminated data can be estimated analytically, and 3) the impact of the environmental (SSP) mismatch can also be estimated analytically. Numerical simulations illustrate that the proposed scheme works well in different scenarios of shallow water waveguides     

Wind-induced motion of water in shallow-water closed basins

The motion of water induced by tangential wind stresses in a circular basin of finite depth is studied by the finite-element method. The dependences of vertical displacements of the surface of the basin and the field of horizontal wave currents on the topography of the bottom and the direction of the wind are analyzed. The transformations of wind-induced disturbances observed after termination of the wind action are investigated.Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 5, pp. 35–44, September–October, 2004.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to cover date.     

Measurements of high-frequency shallow-water acoustic phasefluctuations

A shallow-water high-frequency (HF) acoustic propagation experiment was conducted just off shore in Panama City, FL. Several broad-band high-resolution sources and receivers were mounted on stable platforms and deployed in water depths of 8-10 m. Signals covering the frequency range from 20 to 200 kHz were transmitted from the sources to two spatially separated receivers. The data were analyzed to provide estimates of the signal phase variances as a function of frequency and source-to-receiver range. These phase variabilities are correlated with small-scale water column thermal variabilities and ocean swell conditions     

On shallow-water bottom reverberation frequency dependence

Determinations of bottom scattering strength in the decade below 1 kHz under downward refracting conditions have been made using acoustic reverberation and transmission data from the 2001 East China Sea Asian Seas International Acoustic Experiment (ASIAEX). The measurements were performed using explosive sources and receiving hydrophones in ship-suspended vertical-line arrays. The focus of this paper has been the dependence of bottom scattering strength on the frequency and characterization of the uncertainties associated with the extraction of scattering strength from reverberation. The derived bottom scattering strength gradually rises with frequency from 100-300 Hz and then more rapidly above 300 Hz. A potential explanation suggests that the frequency variation results from two scattering mechanisms, rough layer scattering at the low end of the band and sediment near-surface volume scattering at the high end. The spatial extrapolation of these results is explored by comparing them with similarly derived scattering strengths using data obtained under the Navy's Harsh Environments Program at a somewhat separated site (56 km) under environmental conditions similar to those during ASIAEX. In the ASIAEX analysis, it has been found that the largest source of uncertainty in the scattering-strength frequency dependence arises from persistence of finite-amplitude effects associated with the source signal.     

Microtopographical roughness of shallow-water continental shelves

High-resolution (<1 cm) roughness height measurements were made of the seafloor at seven locations on continental-shelf sediments on water depths ranging from 18 to 50 m. Roughness profiles of the sediment-water interface were digitized primarily from stereo photogrammetric measurements of varying pathlengths and increments. The data show that the root-mean-square roughness height varies from 0.3 cm for flat, featureless bottoms to 2.3 cm for rippled bottoms. Slopes of the roughness power spectra were calculated to be -1.5 to near -3.0 and depended to a large extent on contributions in higher spatial frequencies due to coarse sediments. Correlation lengths of different bottom types were estimated by using the Weiner-Khintchine theorem and examining the low-frequency behavior of the roughness spectra derived from the longest roughness profiles     

Low frequency variability of the currents in Indonesian channels (Savu-Roti and Roti-Ashmore Reef)

Direct current measurements of one year duration were obtained in two Indonesian channels, between Savu and Roti and in the Timor Passage. Their analysis, together with data from Indonesian coastal tide gauges, supports the rather high value of transport deduced from geostrophic calculations across the hydrographic section made in August 1989. At that time, the Timor Passage may have fed more than half of the throughflow. A strong variability was observed in the form of sudden changes in the current regime with amplitude of the same order as the seasonal one. Observations indicate the importance of sea level measurements along the Indonesian coast, which show some correlation with the flow through the Timor Passage.     

Single-mode excitation in the shallow-water acoustic channel usingfeedback control

The shallow-water acoustic channel supports far-field propagation in a discrete set of modes. Ocean experiments have confirmed the modal nature of acoustic propagation, but no experiment has successfully excited only one of the suite of mid-frequency trapped modes propagating in a coastal environment. The ability to excite a single mode would be a powerful tool for investigating shallow-water ocean processes. A feedback control algorithm incorporating elements of adaptive estimation, underwater acoustics, array processing, and control theory to generate a high-fidelity single mode is presented. This approach also yields a cohesive framework for evaluating the feasibility of generating a single mode with given array geometries, noise characteristics, and source power limitations. Simulations and laboratory wave guide experiments indicate the proposed algorithm holds promise for ocean experiments     

Benthic trophic status and nutrient fluxes in shallow-water sediments

Proliferation of fast-growing ephemeral macroalgae in shallow-water embayments constitutes a large-scale environmental change of coastal marine ecosystems. Since inorganic nutrients essential for the initiation and maintenance of macroalgal growth may be supplied from the underlying sediment, we investigated the coupling between benthic inorganic nutrient (mainly N and P) fluxes and sediment properties in 6 bays representing a wide gradient of sediment characteristics (grain size, organic matter content, solid phase C and N). The initial characterization of bays was made in June and also included measurements of oxygen flux and microphytobenthic and macrofaunal biomass. In September, still within the growth season of the macroalgae, complementary experiments with sediment-water incubations for benthic flux measurements of oxygen and nutrients focused on trophic status (balance between auto- and heterotrophy) as a controlling factor for rates of measured benthic nutrient fluxes. Generally, sediments rendered autotrophic by microphytobenthic photosynthesis removed nutrients from the overlying water, while heterotrophic sediments supplied nutrients to the overlying bottom water. Estimations of the green-algal nutrient demand suggested that late in the growth season, net heterotrophic sediments could cover 20% of the N-demand and 70% of the P demand. As the benthic trophic status is a functional variable more closely coupled to nutrient fluxes than the comparably conservative structural parameter organic matter content, we suggest that the trophic status is a more viable parameter to classify sediments and predict benthic nutrient fluxes in shallow-water environments.     

Statistics of broad-band bottom reverberation predictions in shallow-water waveguides

A new coherent reverberation model developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, and the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic Undersea Research Centre, La Spezia, Italy, is exercised in the 17-750-Hz band to estimate the degree of non-Rayleighness of shallow-water reverberation envelopes as a function of waveguide multipath, system bandwidth, directivity, and frequency. Findings suggest that reverberation from diffuse, but non-Gaussian, scatterer distributions is significantly more Rayleigh for multipath environments than for equivalent environments excited by a single or small number of modes or for broadside receiver array processing that extracts narrow angles of reception. These findings suggest that the problem of non-Rayleigh reverberation in shallow-water waveguides can be ameliorated through the use of tuned ensonification and reception schemes, which retain high probabilities of detection while reducing the associated probability of false alarm.     

A high-frequency, shallow-water acoustic measurement system

The US Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity has developed a high-frequency acoustic measurement system for use in shallow water. The heart of this system is a pair of submersible towers supporting acoustic transmitting and receiving instrumentation. These towers are transported to an experimental staging area, assembled, and acoustic instrumentation installed. They are towed to a preselected measurement site, then the chambers on each tower are flooded, thereby settling slowly to the ocean bottom. Stability and dynamic response analyses were used to determine the towing and deployment stability envelopes for the towers. The acoustic transmitting system uses a pair of narrow-beam parametric acoustic sources operating at secondary frequencies ranging from 20 to 180 kHz. The acoustic receiving systems consist of a pair of 16-hydrophone, two-dimensional arrays with broadband capabilities up to 250 kHz. These systems have been used to make high-resolution bottom scattering measurements in shallow water off the coast, south of Panama City, Florida     

Transformation of a strongly nonlinear wave in a shallow-water basin

The transformation of a nonlinear wave in shallow water is investigated analytically and numerically within the framework of long-wave theory. It is shown that the nonlinearity parameter (the Mach number), which is defined as the ratio of the particle velocity in the wave to the propagation velocity, can be well above unity in a deep trough and that a jump appears initially in the trough. It is demonstrated that shockwave amplitudes at large times change in accordance with the prediction of weakly nonlinear theory. The shock front generates a reflected wave, which, in turn, transforms into a shock wave if the initial amplitude is large enough. The amplitude of the reflected wave is proportional to the cube of the initial amplitude (as predicted by weakly nonlinear theory) over a wide range of amplitudes except for the case of anomalously strong nonlinearity. When there is a sign-variable sufficiently intense initial perturbation, the basic wave transforms into a positive shock pulse (crest) and the reflected wave turns into a negative pulse (trough).     

In situ measurements of near-surface porosity in shallow-water marine sands

An in situ resistivity profiler was developed to measure with minimal disruption, the near-surface porosity of shallow-water marine sands. Results from a siliciclastic site off NW Florida and two Bahamian carbonate sites (an ooid shoal and coral reef sand flat) suggest the following general features. First, there is a 5- to 15-mm thick zone of elevated porosity adjacent to the sediment-water interface. Porosity in this layer was from 0.05 to 0.25 (decimal porosity) greater than the subjacent values, and would be difficult to resolve using traditional measurement techniques. Second, average porosity at >10-mm depth was 0.38 /spl plusmn/ 0.01 at the siliciclastic site, 0.39 /spl plusmn/ 0.01 at the ooid shoal site, and 0.49 /spl plusmn/ 0.02 at the coral reef sand flat site; consistent with literature values. Third, individual profiles exhibited 0.05-0.15 fluctuations about the mean, with vertical length scales of 5-15 mm. These fluctuations may be the result of grain packing heterogeneities caused by hydrodynamic sorting during deposition and subsequent physical and biological mixing or could be artifacts caused by disruption of the grain framework. Fourth, ripple troughs at the siliciclastic sand site had a significantly higher near-surface porosity compared to ripple crests, due most likely to the presence of detrital material in the troughs.