Remedying the effects of array shape distortion on the spatialfiltering of acoustic data from a line array of hydrophones

The effects of both small perturbations and large deformations to the array's shape on both conventional and adaptive beamformers are shown for two frequencies: the spatial Nyquist frequency (or design frequency) of the array and a frequency about three times greater. Large shape deformations lead to a decrease in the conventional beamformer's output power for a beam steered in the direction of the signal source, together with an increase in the sidelobe levels (or secondary maxima), while small perturbations in the array shape have little effect. Signal suppression is observed to be far greater for the adaptive beamformer because it is very sensitive to system errors. The imposition of a weight norm constraint on the adaptive beamformer reduces the signal suppression only for small shape perturbations array shape estimation techniques are needed to reduce signal suppression for large shape deformations. The adverse effects of a nonlinear array shape on both conventional and adaptive beamforming are shown to be substantially reduced by applying techniques that estimate the coordinates of the hydrophones prior to beamforming     

Adaptive beamforming of a towed array during a turn

During maneuvering, towed array beamforming degrades if a straight array is assumed. This is especially true for high-resolution adaptive beamforming. It is experimentally demonstrated that adaptive beamforming is feasible on a turning array, provided that array shape is estimated. The array shape can be inferred solely from the coordinates of the tow vessel's Global Positioning System (GPS) without any instrumentation in the array. Based on estimated array shape from the GPS, both the conventional beamformer and the white noise constrained (WNC) adaptive beamformer are shown to track the source well during a turn. When calculating the weight vector in the WNC approach, a matrix inversion of the cross-spectral density matrix is involved. This matrix inversion can be stabilized by averaging the cross-spectral density matrix over neighboring frequencies. The proposed algorithms have been tested on real data with the tow-vessel making 45/spl deg/ turns with a 500-m curvature radius. While turning, the improvement in performance over the assumption of a straight array geometry was up to 5 dB for the conventional beamformer and considerably larger for the WNC adaptive beamformer.     

A brief description of the fundamental difficulties in passive ranging

The use of passive sensors to estimate range and bearing to an acoustic source is investigated. The variance of the estimators is shown to depend on the number of sensors, integration time, signal-to-noise ratio, and more significantly, on the available array length. The variances for four different array configurations are discussed.     

Measurement of towed array position, shape, and attitude

A practical method is described for the three-dimensional determination of the position, shape, and attitude of a hydrophone array towed from a surface vessel. It provides successive snapshots of the array configuration with a maximum rate of about three per minute. The method is intended as an alternative to the use of fixed test ranges and provides results suitable for validating computer models of array motion. It uses the travel-time differences of impulsive waves measured across the array. The waves are generated by two explosive charges dropped from consorts. Results of a typical experiment are presented as an illustrative example. The array position relative to the tow ship is obtained to within an accuracy of a few metres     

The estimation of the shape of an array using a hidden Markov model

A hidden Markov model (HMM) technique for the estimation of the shape of a towed array is presented. It is assumed that there is a far-field source radiating sound containing possibly weak spectral lines. The technique uses either the Fourier coefficients at a given frequency computed from a single time block or the maximal eigenvector of a sample spectral covariance matrix. The technique is illustrated using several simulations. The results of these simulations indicate that the HMM technique yields shape and bearing estimates more accurate than those provided by a maximum-likelihood array shape estimation technique     

Calculation of the shape of a towed underwater acoustic array

An important area of towed underwater acoustic research is the determination of the 3D positions of all hydrophones in the array. Although there are a number of methods available that provide position information at a small number of locations along the array, an interpolation scheme is needed that will permit the estimation of the position of all hydrophones so that further processing of acoustic data may proceed. An interpolation technique based on a twisted quartic spline approximation to a space curve is presented. This technique provides the advantages of numerical stability, necessary smoothness, and satisfaction of physical boundary conditions. Most importantly, it permits the estimation of the positions of all hydrophones in an array     

Optimal modal beamforming of bandpass signals using an undersizedsparse vertical hydrophone array: theory and a shallow-water experiment

Conventional methods for modal beamforming of underwater acoustic signals using a vertical-line hydrophone array (VLA) can suffer significant degradation in resolution when the array is geometrically deficient, i.e., consists of sparsely spaced elements and spans the water column partially or is poorly navigated. Designed for estimating the coefficients of the normal modes, these conventional methods include the direct projection (DP) of the data on the calculated mode shapes and least-squares (LS) fitting of the mode sum to the data. The degradation, in the form of modal cross talk or sidelobes, is a result of an undersampling in depth. This cross talk may be mitigated with the application of proper space-time filter constraints in the case of a pulse transmission. In this paper, a generalized least-squares (GLS) mode beamformer, capable of incorporating physical space-time constraints on the propagation of sound, is presented. The formulation is based on the well-known theorem of Gauss and Markov. Initialized by a model prediction of the basic arrival structure of the normal modes and incorporating, iteratively, refined estimates of the statistics of the modal fluctuations, this GLS technique strives to boost the resolution of a geometrically deficient VLA. The improvement is demonstrated using the VLA data collected during a shallow-water tomography experiment in the Barents Sea. The superiority of the GLS method over the conventional DP and LS methods is evident, providing a high-quality time series of modal arrivals as a function of geophysical time, which, in turn, reveals the dominant time scales of the oceanic processes associated with the Barents Sea Polar Front     

The effects of blade twist and nacelle shape on the performance of horizontal axis tidal current turbines

The paper presents the effects of blade twist and nacelle shape on the performance of horizontal axis tidal current turbines using both analytical and numerical methods. Firstly, in the hydrodynamic design procedure, the optimal profiles of untwisted and twisted blades and their predicted theoretical turbine performance are obtained using the genetic algorithm method. Although both blade profiles produce desired rated rotational speed, the twisted blade achieves higher power and thrust performance. Secondly, numerical simulation is performed using sliding mesh technique to mimic rotating turbine in ANSYS FLUENT to validate the analytical results. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approximation of the turbulence parameters is applied to obtain the flow field around the turbine. It is found that power and axial thrust force from BEMT (Blade Element Momentum Theory) method are under-predicted by 2% and 8% respectively, compared with numerical results. Afterwards, the downstream wake field of the turbine is investigated with two different nacelle shapes. It is found that the rotor performance is not significantly affected by the different nacelle shapes. However, the structural turbulence caused by the conventional nacelle is stronger than that by the NACA-profiled shape, and the former can cause detrimental effect on the performance of the downstream turbines in tidal farms.     

The steepness and shape of wind waves

Variations are found in the shape and the steepness of wind-generated surface gravity waves between very young waves, such as seen in a laboratory tank, and larger waves of various wave ages encountered at sea as the result of wind stress over larger fetches. These differences in the characteristic shape of wind waves are presented as a function of the wave age. The wave steepness is also expressed as a function of wave age, the measurement of which is consistent with the 3/2-power law connecting wave height and characteristic period, normalized by the air friction velocity.     

Spatial smoothing and minimum variance beamforming on data fromlarge aperture vertical line arrays

Various approaches to the beamforming of data from large aperture vertical line arrays are investigated. Attention is focused on the conventional beamforming problem where the angular power spectrum is estimated, in this case by the adaptive minimum variance processor. The data to be processed are 200 Hz CW transmissions collected at sea by a 900 m vertical line array with 120 equally spaced sensors. Correlated multipath arrivals result in signal cancellation for the adaptive processor, and spatial smoothing techniques must be used prior to beamforming. The processing of subapertures is proposed. Full aperture and subaperture processing techniques are used on the 200 Hz data. Multipath arrivals are found to illuminate only parts of the array, thus indicating that the wavefield can be highly inhomogeneous with depth     

Effects of bed perturbation and velocity asymmetry on ripple initiation: wave-flume experiments

Laboratory experiments using a wave flume were designed to examine the threshold condition for ripple formation under asymmetrical oscillatory flows on an artificially roughened bed. Three types of sand beds were prepared in the experiments: they were flat, notched, and notch-mounded beds with bed roughness increasing in this order. The beds were constructed with three kinds of well-sorted sand with similar density, but different diameters. Data analyses were made using the two dimensionless parameters: the mobility number, M, a simplified form of the Shields number, and the Ursell number, U, a surrogate for asymmetry of flow field. The result confirmed that the threshold for ripple initiation is decreased with increasing bed perturbation and that as the bed perturbation increases, the dependency of this threshold on the flow asymmetry becomes less and finally null for the notch-mounded bed. This relationship is quantified by the following equations: M=17−14.5e^−0.03U on the flat bed, M=5.0−2.5e^−0.1U for the notched bed, and M=2.5 for the notch-mounded bed. A comparison between the previous field data and the present laboratory findings indicates that the threshold in the notch-mounded bed experiment, M=2.5, seems to provide a critical condition for rippling in the natural environment.     

Zebiak-Cane模式中条件非线性最优扰动对ENSO春季预报障碍的影响

使用Zebiak-Cane模式和条件非线性最优扰动(CNOP)方法,研究初始误差和参数误差共同作用对ENSO春季预报障碍现象的影响。选取模式中的8个El Ni?o事件,包括4次强事件和4次弱事件,每个El Ni?o事件又分别从8个不同的起始时间做1 a的预报,这样一共64个预报实验。对每个实验分别计算CNOP误差(初始误差和参数误差同时存在时的最优误差),通过分析误差增长,发现CNOP误差引起的1 a后的预报误差随着初始预报时间的不同有较大差异,并且不同强度的El Ni?o事件也会影响CNOP误差的发展,增长位相中强事件的预报误差要比弱事件的预报误差大一些;而衰减位相中恰恰相反,弱事件的预报误差要比强事件的预报误差要大一些;同时也发现高频El Ni?o事件对误差增长率的影响较大。本结论有助于提高Zebiak-Cane模式预报ENSO的技巧。     

The shape of deep-water siliciclastic systems: A discussion

Deep-water siliciclastic systems are classified primarily on their shape as: submarine fans with well developed or poorly developed morphology, slope drapes, for example, over relatively stable basin margins, fault-scarp aprons, canyons and large channels, under-supplied sheet systems such as abyssal plains, non-fan ponded systems such as over-supplied perched basins, and fan deltas. Collectively, or separately, these systems may form sedimentary basin fills that can be over or under-supplied with respect to the sediment input although most systems will tend toward over-supply/overflow with time. Finally, the sum total of the siliciclastic systems and basins can be used to define the tectonic milieux such as passive, strike-slip and convergent margins.     

岬间海湾平面平衡形态研究进展

岬间海湾平面平衡形态规律的研究是砂质海岸稳定与演变研究的重要内容。简要回顾了岬间海湾平面形态规律的研究进展,着重介绍了海湾平衡形态的五个模型。通过评述平衡形态模型的优缺点,指出机理分析和经验拟合相结合应该为以后海湾平面平衡形态规律的研究发展方向,并论述了我国岬间砂质海湾平面平衡形态研究的重要意义。     

宽带啁啾脉冲激光非线性传输过程中的时空微扰研究

基于非线性薛定谔方程推导出大啁啾脉冲的传输方程,利用微扰理论,分析了啁啾脉冲激光的时空不稳定性. 理论上比较清楚的阐述了宽带脉冲激光在大啁啾情况下,其时空噪声的相互影响与相互作用情况及脉冲啁啾对噪声微扰调制的影响,发现在相同γI₀(非线性系数与峰值强度乘积)的情况下脉冲啁啾对噪声调制的增长没有直接影响. 最后我们在实验上利用非线性介质对啁啾脉冲的空间小尺度自聚焦过程进行了部分验证,同时也在数值上对宽带啁啾脉冲的时间噪声调制的增长进行了模拟分析,发现实验结果和模拟分析结论     

Bispectrum and asymmetry of wave shape

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The influence of the structural distribution and hardness of mineral phases on the size and shape of rock drilling particles

Abstract

Rock drilling is a significant activity widely used in the exploration of marine mineral resources and offshore civil engineering such as marine mining, petroleum and deep-water drilling. The characteristics of size and shape of particles produced during rock drilling influence drilling efficiency and energy consumption. We report a series of drilling experiments on sandstone, limestone and shale to systematically examine particle size distribution and shape and correlate these with original rock structure and composition. Correlations are established via metrics of particle size distribution, average circularity and specific surface area. Impact breakage and contact abrasion of individual particles during rock drilling are the main mechanisms controlling particle size and shape. Impact breakage is controlled by the structural distribution of mineral phases, while contact abrasion is principally related to the hardness of mineral phases. The particle size distribution is affected by the structural distribution of mineral phases. The average circularity of the drilling particles is mainly controlled by the hardness of mineral phases. The specific surface area of rock drilling particles is determined by both structural distribution and hardness of mineral phases – with homogeneous structure and low average hardness of the phases reducing the resulting specific surface area of the drilling products.