Effects of Korean littoral environment on acoustic propagation

Environmental acoustics experiments were recently conducted in shallow to intermediate water depths in the Sea of Japan, east of Korea, along the shelf and slope, covering frequencies from 25 to 800 Hz. These were operational experiments carried out in three different seasons. The primary objectives of the data reported here are: (1) to characterize the Korean coastal environment during May 1998, September 1998, and February 1999 and (2) to assess how complexities of the environment might impact acoustic propagation in May and February, as measured by its transmission loss. Propagation data were obtained from broadband explosive SUS sources and sonobuoy receivers. The tests were conducted over varying bottom depths and slopes, both approximately normal and parallel to the bathymetric contours. Two different source depths were included. Environmental and acoustic data are reviewed and discussed. While many aspects of the observed propagation remain ill understood, on the whole a consistent and useful picture has emerged of acoustic propagation in this region. Environmental impacts on propagation are associated mainly with bottom properties, somewhat less so with source depth in relationship to sound speed profiles, and almost not at all with range-dependent profiles of a water mass front     

Acoustic Propagation Uncertainty in the Shallow East China Sea

Acoustic transmission loss (TL) and supporting ocean environmental data collected during the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment (ASIAEX) on June 3, 2001, in the East China Sea (ECS), in a water depth of approximately 100 m are presented. Objectives of the data analysis are to explore the stochastic nature of TL in terms of the mean$(mu_ TL)$and the fluctuations around the mean (as described by the standard deviation$(sigma_ TL)$and higher order statistics). In particular, we conjecture that$mu_ TL$robustly reflects the macrostate of the ocean, including the bottom, whereas uncertainties in TL as measured by$sigma_ TL$are related to the microstate of the ocean, again including the bottom. Comparisons are made to TL data at a similar location, 200 km from the ASIAEX site, in waters of the same depth, by the Harsh Environment Program in September 1997. The TL is shown to be approximately horizontally isotropic with exception to a discrete anisotropic feature likely caused by internal waves. Various mechanisms of uncertainty are discussed to describe the microstate. These were not sufficiently resolved to identify the primary cause of variability.     

Using the adaptive simulated annealing algorithm to estimate ocean-bottom geoacoustic properties from measured and synthetic transmission loss data

This paper presents the results obtained using the adaptive simulated annealing (ASA) algorithm to invert the test cases from the Geoacoustic Inversion Techniques Workshop held in May 2001. The ASA algorithm was chosen for use in our inversion software for its speed and robustness when searching the geoacoustic parameter solution space to minimize the difference between the observed and the modeled transmission loss (TL). Earlier work has shown that the ASA algorithm is approximately 15 times faster than a modified Boltzmann annealing algorithm, used in prior versions of our TL inversion software, with comparable fits to the measured data. Results are shown for the synthetic test cases, 0 through 3, and for the measured data cases, 4 and 5. The inversion results from the synthetic test cases showed that subtle differences between range-dependent acoustic model version 1.5, used to generate the test cases, and parabolic equation (PE) 5.0, used as the propagation loss model for the inversion, were significant enough to result in the inversion algorithm finding a geoacoustic environment that produced a better match to the synthetic data than the true environment. The measured data cases resulted in better fits using ASTRAL automated signal excess prediction system TL 5.0 than using the more sophisticated PE 5.0 as a result of the inherent range averaging present in the ASTRAL 5.0 predictions.     

Estimation of bottom scattering strength from measured and modeledmid-frequency sonar reverberation levels

Hamilton-type geoacoustic models were developed for Area Foxtrot, a shallow water test bed south of Long Island, for emerging active sonar systems where the surface sediment type is highly spatially variable. Reverberation levels (RL) were modeled using the finite-element parabolic equation (FEPE) propagation model to augment the generic sonar model (GSM) propagation model because the bottom loss model in GSM did not estimate transmission loss (TL) accurately in shallow water. FEPE estimates reveal that there is a greater than 15 dB difference between TL for sand and that for silt-day sediments in Area Foxtrot. The comparison between modeled RL and measured RL (from a 1991 active sonar exercise) enabled bottom scattering strength kernels to be developed for Area Foxtrot. Bottom scattering strength was found to be a function of sediment type. Hard sand sediment has a bottom scattering strength which obeys Lambert's law (sin² &thetas;) while that of silt-clay sediment is consistent with sub-bottom volume scattering (sine). The RLs in Area Foxtrot are azimuth-dependent and are a function of TL and bottom scattering strength (and hence bottom sediment type). Sonar beams steered towards the hard sand show higher RLs than for silt-clay, and knowledge of the sediment type and its spatial variation must be known to model RL accurately. A method to determine sediment type using measured RLs and RL slopes is given     

Using matched-field processing to estimate shallow-water bottomproperties from shot data taken in the Mediterranean Sea

It is extremely difficult to determine shallow ocean bottom properties (such as sediment layer thicknesses, densities, and sound speeds). However, when acoustic propagation is affected by such environmental parameters, it becomes possible to use acoustic energy as a probe to estimate them. Matched-field processing (MFP) which relies on both field amplitude and phase can be used as a basis for the inversion of experimental data to estimate bottom properties. Recent inversion efforts applied to a data set collected in October 1993 in the Mediterranean Sea north of Elba produce major improvements in MFP power, i.e., in matching the measured field by means of a model using environmental parameters as inputs, even using the high-resolution minimum variance (MV) processor that is notoriously sensitive and usually results in very low values. The inversion method applied to this data set estimates water depth, sediment thickness, density, and a linear sound-speed profile for the first layer, density and a linear sound-speed profile for a second layer, constant sound speed for the underlying half space, array depth, and source range and depth. When the inversion technique allows for the array deformations in range as additional parameters (to be estimated within fractions of a wavelength, e.g., 0.1 m), the MFP MV peak value for the Med data at 100 Hz can increase from 0.48 (using improved estimates of environmental parameters and assuming a vertical line array) to 0.68 (using improved estimates of environmental parameters PLUS improved phone coordinates). The ideal maximum value would be 1.00 (which is achieved for the less sensitive Linear processor). However, many questions remain concerning the reliability of these inversion results and of inversion methods in general     

Interannual variability in the Mindanao Eddy and its impact on thermohaline structure pattern

The major feature,interannual variability and variation cause of the Mindanao Eddy and its impact on the thermohaline structure are analyzed based on the Argo profiling float data,the history observed data and the SODA data.The analysis results show that the Mindanao Eddy is a permanent cyclonic meso-scale eddy and spreads vertically from about 500 m depth upward do about 50 m depth.In addition to its strong seasonal variability,the Mindanao Eddy displays a remarkable interannual variability associated with ENSO.It strengthens and expands eastward during El Nin o while it weakens and retreats westward during La Nin a.The interannual variability in the Mindanao Eddy may be caused by the North Equatorial Counter Current,the North Equatorial Current,the Mindanao Current and the Indonesian Through Flow.The eddy variability can have a great influence on the thermohaline structure pattern in the local upper ocean.When the eddy is strong,the cold and low salinity water inside the eddy moves violently upward from deep layer,the thermocline depth greatly shoals,and the subsurface high salinity water largely decreases,with the upper mixed layer becoming thinner,and vice versa.     

Perturbative inversion of geoacoustic parameters in a shallow waterenvironment

In many strategic shallow water areas, the geoacoustic properties of the sub-bottom are largely unknown. This paper demonstrates that inverse theory and measured data from a single hydrophone can be used to accurately deduce the geoacoustic properties of the sub-bottom, even when the initial background geoacoustic model is a highly inaccurate estimate. Since propagation in shallow water is very sensitive to the geoacoustic properties of the sub-bottom the inverse technique is a vitally important, practical, and inexpensive means to improve sonar performance prediction in a potentially hostile environment. To provide ground truth for the inverse technique, measured data collected during Project GEMINI were compared to the inverse solutions. Detailed, site-specific geoacoustic models were developed for two array locations and the finite-element parabolic equation (FEPE) model was used to estimate transmission loss (TL). The model estimates from FEPE compared well with the measured data and the detailed geoacoustic models were considered as “ground truth.” To test the efficacy of the technique, initial background geoacoustic models were constructed assuming no a priori information of the bottom. The resultant inverse solution was used to predict the geoacoustic properties at each of the sites. The final results were in excellent agreement with the measured data and the resulting TL estimates derived from the inverse technique were as good or better than the TL estimates obtained from the detailed, site-specific geoacoustic models     

Does the poleward boundary current off Western Australia exert a dominant influence on coastal chaetognaths and siphonophores?

A transect that extended 40 km offshore across the continental shelf off Perth, Western Australia, was sampled monthly during 1997 and 1998. Zooplankton was sampled at 5 km intervals with a 300 micron-mesh bongo net deployed vertically to within 3 m of the bottom, or to a maximum depth of 70 m. Numbers of species of chaetognaths and siphonores were quantified, as were abundances of the common species from these groups and of the hydromedusae Auglaura hemistoma. The potential influences of four environmental variables (sea-level, sea surface temperature, salinity and chlorophyll concentration) on variability in diversity and abundance were assessed using generalized additive modeling. A combination of factors were found to influence the seasonal and spatial biological variability and, of these factors, non-linear relationships always contributed to the best fitting models. In all but one case, each of the environmental variables was included in the final model. The seasonally variable Leeuwin Current, whose strength is measured as variations in local sea-level, is the dominant mesoscale oceanographic feature in the study region but was not found to have an overriding influence on the shelf zooplankton. This contrasts a previous hypothesis that subjectively attributed seasonal variability of the same taxa examined in this study to seasonal variations in the Leeuwin Current. There remains a poor understanding of shelf zooplankton off Western Australia and, in particular, of the processes that influence seasonal and spatial variability. A more complete understanding of potential causative influences of the Leeuwin Current on the shelf plankton community of south-western Australia must be cognizant of a range of biophysical factors operating at both the broader mesoscale and at smaller scales within the shelf pelagic ecosystem.     

Modeling of El Niño events using a simple model

In this paper, we present the results of modeling of El Niño events using a simple model of a classical oscillator with decay under external forcing. The sea surface temperature in the East Pacific and the mean thermocline depth in the Equatorial Pacific correspond to the roles of the momentum and position, respectively. The external forcing of the system is determined by two factors: the short-period meridional mass fluctuations in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean due to the joint effect of the atmospheric variability over the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, bottom topography, and coastlines; and the variability of western winds in the tropics. Under such conditions, oscillations of El Niño type arise in the model as a result of propagation of signals generated in the Southern Ocean (due to the fluctuations of meridional transport fluxes and the variability of western winds in the tropics). These signals propagate over the Equatorial Pacific as fast wave processes. It is shown that external forcing is the main factor in establishing the oscillation pattern of the model characteristics variability.     

Nature of “transparency windows” in the broadband spectrum of seafloor microseisms

The peculiarities of the microseisms spectra shape when recording on the ocean floor in the frequency band of 0.003–20 Hz are examined. The origin of the stable minima in the microseisms spectrum (“transparency windows”) at frequencies of about 0.02–0.1 Hz and 5–15 Hz is analyzed. In these frequency bands, weak earthquake signals are recorded by bottom instruments. The origin of the low-frequency “transparency windows” can be explained by the conditions of the microseisms propagation in the oceanic waveguide (between the bottom and the water’s surface) in the abyssal plain zones. The results of the full-waveform numerical simulation of the seismoacoustic waves propagation in the oceanic environment and on the ocean-continent border are presented, and the experimental data as well. The peculiarities of the microseisms spectra in the band of high-frequency “transparency windows” can be caused by the constructive resonance in the water-saturated layer of bottom sediments. The theoretical foundation and experimental results are given.     

Spatial and temporal variations in acoustic propagation characteristics at the New England shelfbreak front

The spatial and temporal variability of the acoustic field in the region of a strong coastal shelfbreak front are examined, using the high-resolution environmental data from the 1996-1997 New England shelfbreak PRIMER experiment to provide input to acoustic propagation models. Specifically, the "SeaSoar" undulating conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) probe across-shelf transects provide 1-km along-track resolution, including the front, during the spring, summer, and winter seasons. These data allow one to study the diurnal and seasonal temporal variation of the acoustic field, as well as the varying spatial structure of the field. Using the RAM parabolic equation code, across-shelf acoustic field structure at 200, 400, and 1000 Hz is studied for various source depths. A number of interesting propagation effects are noted, the most interesting of which are the inhibition of strong acoustic-bottom interaction by the warm shelf water beneath the shelfbreak front and the existence of small-scale ducts near the front, due to offshore transport. Data from the vertical line arrays deployed as part of PRIMER offer partial validation of the predictions made. Specifically, it is seen that the mean received levels are in reasonable accord with propagation calculations made using locally measured bottom properties and the SeaSoar water-column measurements.     

基于GAM和GWR模型分析环境因子对鱼类分布的影响

多鳞鱚（Sillago sihama）是山东近海重要的渔业种类之一。本研究根据2016年秋季（10月）在山东近海开展渔业资源底拖网调查取得的数据,分析该海域多鳞鱚的空间分布特征,并运用广义可加模型（GAM）和地理加权回归（GWR）模型探究影响其分布的因素及其与环境因子的非线性和空间非平稳性关系。GAM拟合结果显示,影响秋季多鳞鱚分布的环境因子主要有水深、底层水温和底层盐度,水深的偏差解释率最大,为23.50%。GWR模型拟合结果显示,多鳞鱚分布与水深和底层水温之间存在空间非平稳性关系。水深与多鳞鱚相对资源量呈负相关关系,底层水温与多鳞鱚相对资源量呈正相关关系。赤池信息准则和决定系数（R2）指标对比结果显示,GWR模型的表现优于GAM,在渔业生态数据分析中表现出较好的发展潜力。本研究为今后开展渔业生物空间分布提供了一种新的方法。     

海州湾春季皮氏叫姑鱼栖息地适宜性研究

根据2011年及2013-2015年春季在海州湾及其邻近海域进行的底拖网调查数据,结合同步采集的底层水温、底层盐度、水深以及资源密度等数据,开展皮氏叫姑鱼（Johnius belangerii）栖息地适宜性的相关研究。利用提升回归树（boosted regression tree,BRT）模型确定各环境因子的权重,分别采用算术平均法（AMM）和几何平均法（GMM）建立栖息地适宜性指数（habitat suitability index,HSI）模型,并通过交叉验证确定最优模型。结果表明,皮氏叫姑鱼幼体最适栖息的底层水温为17.4~18.0℃,底层盐度为29.2~30.8,水深为7 m以浅;成体最适栖息的底层水温为17.3~18.0℃,底层盐度为28.8~30.8,水深为12 m以浅。根据BRT模型的输出结果显示,对皮氏叫姑鱼幼体总偏差贡献率最大的是水深,其次是底层盐度和底层水温;对成体总偏差贡献率最大的是底层水温,其次是水深和底层盐度。通过交叉验证发现,无论幼体还是成体,运用GMM算法,且赋予权重的HSI模型具有较低的赤池信息准则值（akaike information criterion,AIC）。海州湾春季皮氏叫姑鱼的最适栖息地随生长阶段而变化,幼体的最适栖息地（HSI ≥ 0.7）主要分布在7 m等深线以浅的山东、江苏沿岸海域;成体的最适栖息主要分布于12 m等深线以浅的海域。海州湾春季皮氏叫姑鱼幼体和成体最适栖息地的空间分布与其自身的生态习性、外界环境因子以及黄海冷水团、近岸沿岸流等因素密切相关。     

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 wave propagation in horizontally variable media

An overview of the multipath expansion method of solving the Helmholtz wave equation to describe the underwater sound field for a fixed point source in a plane multilayered medium is presented. The approach is then extended to account for horizontal variations in bottom depth, bottom type, and sound speed in the stationary phase approximation. Comparisons of model results to a limited number of measured data sets and standard propagation codes are presented.     

Eddy Field in the Japan Sea Derived from Satellite Altimetric Data

The Japan Sea is one of the eddy-rich areas in the world. Many researchers have described the variability of the eddy field and its structure in the Tsushima Warm Current region. On the other hand, since there are few data covering the northern part of the Japan Sea, we are not able to understand the detailed variability of the eddy field there. The variation of the eddy field in the Japan Sea is investigated using the temporal fluctuations of sea surface height measured by altimetric data from TOPEX/POSEIDON and ERS-2. Tidal signals are eliminated from the altimetric data on the basis of the results of Morimoto et al. (2000). Distributions of sea surface dynamic height are produced by using the optimal interpolation method every month. The distributions warm and cold eddies that we obtained coincide well with the observed isotherms at 100 m depth measured by the Japan Sea National Fisheries Research Institute and the sea surface temperature measured by satellite. There are areas with high RMS variability of temporal fluctuation of sea surface dynamic height in the Yamato Basin, the Ulleung Basin, east of North Korea, the eastern part of the Yamato Rise, the Tsushima Strait and west of Hokkaido. The characteristics of eddy propagation in the high RMS variability regions are examined using a lag correlation analysis. Seasonal variations in the number of warm and cold eddies are also examined.     

海州湾鹰爪虾栖息地适宜性研究

根据2011年及2013-2017年春季和秋季在海州湾进行的底拖网调查数据,结合同步测定的底层水温、底层盐度、水深和资源量等数据,开展鹰爪虾(Trachypenaeus curvirostris)栖息地适宜性的研究,先利用广义加性模型对环境因子进行筛选,再应用提升回归树模型确定各环境因子的权重,然后分别采用算术平均法和几何平均法建立栖息地适宜性指数模型,并通过交叉验证选择最优模型。结果表明:春季鹰爪虾的栖息地适宜性指数模型采用算术平均法构建,选择水深和底层盐度作为变量,具有最小的拟合;秋季鹰爪虾的栖息地适宜性指数模型采用几何平均法构建,选择底层水温和底层盐度作为变量,具有最小的拟合。对春季栖息地适宜性指数模型总偏差贡献率最大的是水深(76.23%),其次是底层盐度(23.77%);对秋季栖息地适宜性指数模型总偏差贡献率最大的是底层水温(82.56%),其次是底层盐度(17.44%)。海州湾春季鹰爪虾的最适栖息水深为24 m以内,底层盐度为29.7～31.8;秋季的最适栖息底层水温为18～24℃,底层盐度为29.2～31.5。本研究表明,环境因子的优化有助于改进栖息地适宜性指数模型,并提...     

Inversion for the compressional wave speed profile of the bottomfrom synthetic aperture experiments conducted in the Hudson Canyon area

In September 1988, a series of acoustic propagation experiments were conducted in the Hudson Canyon area. These included synthetic aperture experiments in which a source transmitting a set of four pure tones was towed toward/away from a vertical array of 24 receivers. Data obtained at 50 Hz during one of the synthetic aperture experiments are used to obtain a model for the compressional wave speed profile in the bottom using a modal inverse method. This model is further refined using 175 Hz data. The ability of the inferred model to predict the field at 50 Hz and higher frequencies is examined     

Role of the climatological and current variability on shelf-slope exchanges of particulate matter: Evidence from the Rhône continental margin (NW Mediterranean)

Climatological, current and particulate flux data were gathered in the Grand-Rhône canyon on the Gulf of Lions continental margin for one year (Jan. 1988–Jan 1989). Time series were analyzed to determine the influence of physical exchange processes on particulate matter at the shelf-edge, with a special emphasis on the Northern Current variability.The synoptic variability of the Northern Current was linked to meanders of 2–5 day period. Its meso-scale activity presented a seasonal signal with maximum values in early spring. Peaks of particulate fluxes in the upper traps were little affected by large river and atmospheric inputs, but rather by enhanced shelf-slope exchanges at the shelf edge due to intense cross-slope fluctuations of the Northern Current. These fluctuations caused cross-isobath flows near the bottom, which appeared to be a potential mechanism in transporting particles off the shelf. At 900 m depth, high-flux events measured by sediment traps were primarily linked to periods of higher cross-slope current oscillations. This correlation suggests that vertical motions caused by these oscillations contribute to the suspended particulate matter transport through the process of bringing higher suspended material concentrations from above to greater depths. Vertical velocity estimates were derived through temperature fluctuations combined with vertical temperature gradient and from the kinematic boundary condition. A simple diffusion model indicates that the vertical turbulent mixing of suspended particulate matter, induced by the cross-slope current oscillations, yields downward fluxes of particles comparable to those collected by sediment traps.