Seismo-acoustic field statistics in shallow water

The spatial statistics of the acoustic field in shallow water are strongly affected by interfacial roughness and volume fluctuations in the water column or the seabed. These features scatter energy, reducing the coherence of the acoustic field. This paper introduces a consistent, mode-based modeling framework for ocean scattering. First, the rough surface scattering theory of Kuperman and Schmidt is reformulated in terms of normal modes, resulting in computation times which are reduced by several orders of magnitude. Next, a perturbation theory describing scattering from sound speed and density fluctuations in acoustic media is developed. The scattering theories are combined with KRAKEN, creating a unified normal mode code for wave theory modeling of shallow-water spatial statistics. The scattered field statistics are found to be a complicated function of scattering mechanism, scatterer statistics, and acoustic environment. Bottom properties, including elasticity, strongly influence the scattered field     

Vertical spatial coherence model for a transient signalforward-scattered from the sea surface

The treatment of acoustic energy forward scattered from the sea surface, which is modeled as a random communications scatter channel, is the basis for developing an expression for the time-dependent coherence function across a vertical receiving array. The derivation of this model uses linear filter theory applied to the Fresnel-corrected Kirchhoff approximation in obtaining an equation for the covariance function for the forward-scattered problem. The resulting formulation is used to study the dependence of the covariance on experimental and environmental factors. The modeled coherence functions are then formed for various geometrical and environmental parameters and compared to experimental data     

A statistical theory of signal coherence

A periodic signal can be perfectly predicted far into the future since it perfectly repeats every period. There is always some variation in the waveform over time for signals which are labeled as periodic but which are not truly deterministic. A formal definition is presented in this paper for such a varying periodic signal and the properties of such a class of signals are exploited. A measure called a signal coherence function of the amount of random variation in each Fourier component of the signal is defined and its statistical properties are developed. This signal coherence function is very different from the coherence function between two stationary signals. The method is applied to a digitized record of an acoustic signal generated by a boat in a bag in the Baltic Sea south of Stockholm, Sweden     

Spatial diversity processing for underwater acoustic telemetry

A large increase in the reliability of shipboard or stationary underwater acoustic telemetry systems is achievable by using spatially distributed receivers with aperture sizes from 0.35 to 20 m. Output from each receiver is assigned a quality measure based on the estimated error rate, and the data, weighted by the quality measure, are combined and decoded. The quality measure is derived from a Viterbi error-correction decoder operating on each receiver and is shown to perform reliability in a variety of non-Gaussian noise and jamming environments and reduce to the traditional optimal diversity system in a Gaussian environment. The dynamics of the quality estimator allow operation in the presence of high-power impulsive interference by exploiting the signal and noise differential travel times to individual sensors. The spatial coherence structure of the shallow water acoustic channel shows relatively low signal coherence at separations as short as 0.35 m. Increasing receiver spacing beyond 5 m offers additional benefits in the presence of impulsive noise and larger-scale inhomogeneities in the acoustic field. A number of data transmission experiments were carried out to demonstrate system performance in realistic underwater environments     

Deep-water acoustic coherence at long ranges: theoreticalprediction and effects on large-array signal processing

This paper presents results of combined consideration of sound coherence and array signal processing in long-range deep-water environments. Theoretical evaluation of the acoustic signal mutual coherence function (MCF) of space for a given sound-speed profile and particular scattering mechanism is provided. The predictions of the MCF are employed as input data to investigate the coherence-induced effects on the horizontal and vertical array gains associated with linear and quadratic beamformers with emphasis on the optimal ones. A method of the radiation transport equation is developed to calculate the MCF of the multimode signal under the assumption that internal waves or surface wind waves are the main source of long-range acoustic fluctuations in a deep-water channel. Basic formulations of the array weight vectors and small signal deflection are then exploited to examine optimal linear and quadratic processors in comparison with plane-wave beamformers. For vertical arrays, particular attention is paid also to evaluation of the ambient modal noise factor. The numerical simulations are carried out for range-independent environments from the Northwest Pacific for a sound frequency of 250 Hz and distances up to 1000 km. It was shown distinctly that both signal coherence degradation and modal noise affect large-array gain, and these effects are substantially dependent on the processing technique used. Rough surface sound scattering was determined to cause the most significant effects     

Exploiting phase fluctuations to improve temporal coherence

A special-purpose definition is proposed for phase fluctuations to overcome the obstacle of unpredictable dynamic changes in the phase angle. This definition implies a specific time history for each phase sample and any deviation is termed a phase fluctuation. Its application to acoustic data led to the development of a technique for temporally aligning the phase angles of the acoustic pressure phasors. This alignment process transforms the signal phasors to the real half-space of a rotated complex plane, while the corresponding noise is distributed with random phase angles. Signal processing conducted in the rotated plane improves the temporal coherence of the signals without significantly altering the incoherence of the noise. Coherent attenuation and cancellation of signals is common with temporal coherence and vector averaging. These were eliminated when the aligned-phase angles were substituted for the original unaligned phase angles. Thus, the transformation produces a net temporal coherence gain. Furthermore, it significantly improves the robustness of the signal processor to source and receiver motion. An automatic identifier of signals in the transformed plane also is introduced. Signal identification is based on aligned-phase angle temporal coherence, which significantly improves identification of signals. Results are included for both ocean and atmosphere acoustic data.     

Spatial covariance and adaptive beam forming of high-frequencyacoustic signals forward scattered from the sea surface

The author addresses the spatial coherence of high-frequency acoustic signals that have been forward scattered from the sea surface. The Fresnel-corrected Kirchhoff approximation is applied to derive closed-form expressions for the spatial coherence. These expressions are used to study the influence of geometrical and environmental factors on the coherence. An application of the theory involving the rejection of the surface image of a source by a vertical adaptive line array is presented. The author concludes that the environment has a strong impact on the array processing of surface-scattered fields through its influence on both vertical and horizontal spatial coherence     

Signal variability in shallow-water sound channels

Coherence of broad-band acoustic waves for mid-to-high frequencies (0.6-18 kHz) is obtained for a very shallow-water (15-m-deep) waveguide over a wide band of environmental conditions and for a source-receiver range of 387 m. Temporal behavior is sampled at two different rates: one that resolves at fractions of a second over intermittent periods of 40 s and another that resolves at 10 min over periods of several days. Spatial behavior is sampled in the vertical by hydrophones with spacings of the order of meters. The effect of environmental variability on coherence, in particular, soundspeed fluctuations in the water column and wind-induced modulations of the air-sea interface, is noted as a function of acoustic frequency and ray path. Analysis of the acoustic fluctuations over short time scales more accurately resolves the temporal decorrelation of the received signal due to sea surface waves. The vertical sampling of the received signal permits an analysis of arrival-angle fluctuations. The dependence of coherence on the number of surface bounces is studied by comparing arrivals that have zero, one, two, and three surface bounces     

Vertical spatial coherence of backscatter from bubbles

A basic formalism is developed to treat the vertical spatial coherence of backscatter from wind-generated microbubbles beneath the ocean surface. This formalism treats signals multiply scattered by the sea surface and the subsurface scatterers, as well as absorption in the bubble layer. Approximate solutions are obtained for the case of narrow beamwidth sources and are applied to study the influence of measurement system and environmental parameters on coherence. Using bubble densities derived from acoustic backscatter data, the coherence is found to depend strongly on source frequency and beam pattern. The primary environmental effect is due to the increase in both bubble density and penetration depth below the surface that occurs with increasing windspeed. At high wind speeds, the vertical coherence is sufficiently dependent on the scatterer depth distribution to provide a viable means of studying this phenomenon.     

A simulation tool for high data-rate acoustic communication in ashallow-water, time-varying channel

The paper discusses the development of a simulation tool to model high data-rate acoustic communication in shallow water. The simulation tool is able to generate synthetic time series of signals received at a transducer array after transmission across a shallow-water communication channel. The simulation tool is suitable for testing advanced signal processing techniques for message recovery. A channel model has been developed based on the physical aspects of the acoustic channel. Special emphasis has been given to fluctuations of the signal transmission caused by time-varying multipath effects. At shorter ranges, the temporal variations are dominated by acoustic scattering from the moving sea surface. Therefore, the channel model produces a coherence function which may be interpreted as a time-varying reflection coefficient for the surface scattered acoustical path. A static, range-independent ray model identifies the significant multipaths, and the surface path is modulated with the time-varying reflection coefficient. The advantages and limitations of the channel model are discussed and assumptions necessary to overcome the limitations are emphasised. Based on the assumptions, an algorithm has been developed and implemented to model how a binary message will be modulated when transmitted by a transducer, is distorted in the channel and finally is received by a transducer array     

Results from the Geoacoustic Inversion Techniques Workshop using modal inverse methods

This paper presents the results of a perturbative inverse approach applied to the range-dependent acoustic data provided as part of the Geoacoustic Inversion Techniques Workshop. The method is based on the Hankel transform relationship between complex-pressure field data measured on a horizontal array and the depth-dependent Green's function for a horizontally stratified medium. The input data to the inversion algorithm are discrete values of horizontal wavenumbers estimated for locally range-independent subapertures of the acoustic data. Inversion results are presented with emphasis placed on inverting for compressional wave speed as a function of both range and depth in the bottom.     

Seabed characterization from broad-band acoustic echosounding with scattering models

Acoustic echoes obtained during high-resolution shallow marine seismic surveys contain information about the statistical nature of the sedimentary bottom and its spatial variability. Use of a broad-band seismic source and an appropriately chosen data acquisition window makes the acoustic responses particularly amenable to quantitive analysis. The work reported utilizes experimental frequency-domain spatial coherence functions of along-track acoustic echoes as empirical metrics of bottom character, and by virtue of their correlation with known sediment types, as objective bases for remote sediment classification. Theoretical relationships between parameters describing sediment surface topographies and echo coherence are derived for the case of dominant water-sediment interface acoustic scattering. The diverse experimental data base was acquired from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland using a 1- to 10-kHz Huntec DTS system. Bottom photographs, cores, and grab samples combined with expert geological synthesis provide qualitative and quantitative control.     

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     

胶州湾流速场的声层析反演研究

采用结合匹配法和经验正交函数法的射线声层析反演方法,针对流场水平分布不均匀特点,使用距离等效分段方法对反演算法进行改进,利用三个断面声层析数据,对胶州湾口潮流场的垂直和水平分布进行反演。与传统方法比较,大大降低与实测流速垂直分布间的偏差,平均偏差小于0.02 m/s,流场垂直分布间的相关系数提高到0.85以上。分析了声传播断面上不同的流场结构,以及涨潮期间在胶州湾团岛附近出现的涡流现象,并计算得到湾口海水流量变化。结果表明,改进的射线声层析反演方法可有效地用于水平分布不均匀流场监测,仅采用少量声学观测站位,即可获得大范围的复杂流场三维信息,有利于近海海洋资源开发、海洋环境保护和船舶航行安全。     

基于声传播时间的二维流场反演数值仿真研究

基于南海1998年夏季调查航次诊断计算的流函数场,选取越南以东偶极子发生海域,进行不同的声层析观测站位设置实验。模拟计算声线传播时间信息,然后应用基函数重建方法进行了流函数场的模拟反演研究,讨论了不同随机观测误差对反演结果的影响。研究结果表明该方法是可行的,在所选取的约833 km×833 km海域内,在观测海域外围配置19个声层析观测站位就能够很好地重构原流函数场,空间分辨率约为63.7 km,可以分辨模拟海域中尺度涡场结构,这是传统的基于海流计(CM)或声学多普勒剖面仪(ADCP)等观测方法所不能企及的。该观测技术和方法可以实际应用于近海大范围流场结构的遥感实时监测,为近海污染物等的扩散研究,海洋环境变化等提供实时观测流场资料。     

Ocean effects on time delay estimation requiring adaptation

In active sonar and in passive sonar localization, time delay is a fundamental parameter whose extraction is vital to the sonar function. The underlying time delay parameter (or parameter vector) contains information about the acoustic source (or reflector) as seen through the ocean at a receiver. The ocean effects require sonar adaptation. A tutorial review of ocean effects in time delay estimation is provided, with references to benchmark work. It covers coherence, time-delay estimation, localization, time-varying time delay estimation, the complexity of the ocean environment, and depth estimation using mode matching     

A Portable Matched-Field Processing System Using Passive Acoustic Time Synchronization

A portable matched-field processing (MFP) system for tracking marine mammals is presented, constructed by attaching a set of autonomous flash-memory acoustic recorders to a rope to form a four-element vertical array, or "insta-array." The acoustic data are initially time-synchronized by performing a matched-field global inversion using acoustic data from an opportunistic source, and then by exploiting the spatial coherence of the ocean ambient noise background to measure and correct for the relative clock drift between the autonomous recorders. The technique is illustrated by using humpback whale song collected off the eastern Australian coast to synchronize the array, which is then used to track the dive profile of the whale using MFP methods. The ability to deploy autonomous instruments into arbitrary "insta-array" geometries with conventional fishing gear may permit nonintrusive array measurements in regions currently too isolated, expensive, or environmentally hostile for standard acoustic equipment     

Transfer function of the differential wave gauge

The transfer function of a differential wave slope meter having the form of a two-element resonance array is determined. The measured spectrum depends on the coherence of the wave field and on the differential wave gauge's measuring base. Theoretical calculations of the transfer function are supported by experimentally derived data. Some recommendations are suggested on how to conduct measurements in the field and under laboratory conditions. Measurement accuracies are compared and limits of applicability are defined for a method of measuring sea surface slope by means of the differential wavemeter. The results presented may be effectively used to perform measurements of surface and internal waves, turbulence, etc.Translated by V. Puchkin.     

Matched field inversion for geoacoustic model parameters usingadaptive simulated annealing

A method is described for the estimation of geoacoustic model parameters by the inversion of acoustic field data using a nonlinear optimization procedure based on simulated annealing. The cost function used by the algorithm is the Bartlett matched-field processor (MFP), which related the measured acoustic field with replica fields calculated by the SAFARI fast field program. Model parameters are perturbed randomly, and the algorithm searches the multidimensional parameter space of geoacoustic models to determine the parameter set that optimizes the output of the MFP. Convergence is driven by adaptively guiding the search to regions of the parameter space associated with above-average values of the MFP. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated for a vertical line array in a shallow water enviornment where the bottom consists of homogeneous elastic solid layers. Simulated data are used to determine the limits on estimation performance due to error in experimental geometry and to noise contamination. The results indicate that reasonable estimates are obtained for moderate conditions of noise and uncertainty in experimental geometry     

Temporal resolutions of time-reversal and passive-phase conjugation for underwater acoustic communications

In this paper, we study the temporal resolution of a time-reversal or passive-phase conjugation process as applied to underwater acoustic communications. Specifically, we address 1) the time resolution or the pulse width of a back-propagated time-compressed pulse as compared with the original transmitted pulse; 2) the effectiveness of temporal focusing as measured by the peak-to-sidelobe ratio of the back-propagated or phase-conjugated pulse (both pulse elongation and sidelobe leakages are causes of intersymbol interference and bit errors for communications); 3) the duration of temporal focusing or the temporal coherence time of the underwater acoustic channel; and 4) the stability of temporal focusing as measured by the phase fluctuations of successive pulses (symbols). Binary phase-shift keying signals collected at sea from a fixed source to a fixed receiver are used to extract the above four parameters and are compared with simulated results. Mid-frequency (3-4-kHz) data were collected in a dynamic shallow-water environment, exhibiting high temporal fluctuations over a scale of minutes. Despite this, the channel is found to be highly coherent over a length of 17 s. As a result, only one probe signal is used for 17 s of data. The bit error rate and variance of the symbol phase fluctuations are measured as a function of the number of receivers. They are of the same order as that calculated from the simulated data. The agreement suggests that these two quantities could be modeled for a communication channel with high coherence time. The phase variance can be used to determine the maximum data rate for a phase-shift keying signal for a given signal bandwidth and a given number of receivers.