Portable acoustic tracking system for divers (PATS)

A portable acoustic tracking system (PATS) has been developed for the Navy to track underwater construction teams in water depths to 200 ft. The tracking system can be deployed and operated by the divers and is intended for use in remote areas and for nearshore survey, maintenance, and construction work. A self-calibrating system provides a geographically justified track for up to eight divers. Diver position coordinates are computed from acoustic measurements at periodic intervals and displayed for control purposes. The positions are also recorded for future reference.     

A long‐range and high‐resolution underwater acoustic positioning system

Abstract

It is desired to track the location of an underwater data collecting platform using acoustic range data. A long‐range and high‐resolution acoustic system for underwater locating has been investigated. The system provides continuous and highly accurate tracking of a platform referenced to bottom‐mounted buoys. Each reference buoy contains an acoustic transponder, which is used to obtain ranging data from the transponder to the platform. The transponder has a signal source that is phase‐modulated by a maximal‐length binary sequence and a correlation processing unit to be capable of detecting received acoustic signals with high SNR in a noisy environment or in attenuation due to long‐range propagation, and to identify multipath acoustic signals. The acoustic system has been designed and sea tests tried. The results of that experiment have yielded capability of a submeter underwater acoustic positioning system.     

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     

海洋水声调查及信号处理方法的研究

水声环境包括海洋中影响声信号传播的各种参数,传统上,这些参数的测量都是由从事水声及其设备研究的专业人员进行,而且需要许多实验室测量仪器,所以,一直被称为水声实验。就如何将海洋水声参数的测量工程化,实现多航次、大面积的高效率水声调查,对信号获取方法、信号分析与处理方法进行了探索性研究,并在专门的数据处理软件研制中,对提出的联合时频分析法进行了验证。     

Acoustic telemetry system for underwater control

Underwater acoustic communication in the multipath environment encountered in shallow water is restricted mostly by signal fading. It degrades the signal detection and time synchronization required for reliable acoustic communication. An approach to time synchronization and to the frequency diversity method is presented. A communication algorithm for obtaining a reliable acoustic underwater link, and offering an easy-to-implement decoding scheme is introduced, and system realization is described     

浅水区抗拖网ADCP海床基的研制

搭载声学多普勒流速剖面仪(ADCP)的海床基是实现浅水区水文环境长期监测的有效装置。针对现有ADCP海床基不能避免渔业拖网破坏的缺陷,对海床基的结构、功能进行了全新设计,成功研制了新型抗拖网ADCP海床基,并设计了合理有效的布放回收方法。海上应用表明,抗拖网ADCP海床基能够在浅海渔业捕捞区完成水文数据的采集,可实现对海洋环境的长期有效监测。     

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.     

浅海环境水声传播数据实测与仿真分析

搭建了一套水下录音记录系统,在复杂浅海环境进行了水声数据采集实验;对于水声采集数据进行了距离、频率谱分析,利用MIT开发的声学计算程序OASES针对声场进行了仿真分析。通过模拟结果和实测结果的比较,优化调整仿真程序的环境参数,分析发现影响声场分布的主要因素为沉积层压缩波声速与声源深度。通过这种方式,优化了仿真软件的环境参数,初步建立了比较准确的浅海水声环境仿真模型,取得了预期实验效果。     

Geoacoustic seafloor exploration with a towed array in a shallowwater area of the Strait of Sicily

Acoustic propagation in shallow water is greatly dependent on the geoacoustic properties of the seabottom. This paper exploits this dependence for estimating geoacoustic sediment properties from the bottom acoustic returns of known signals received on a hydrophone line array. There are two major issues in this approach: one is the feasibility of acoustic inversion with a limited aperture line array, the other is related to the knowledge of the geometry of the experimental configuration. To test the feasibility of this approach, a 40-hydrophone-4-m spaced towed array together with a low-frequency acoustic source, was operated at a shallow water site in the Strait of Sicily. In order to estimate the array deformation in real time, it has been equipped with a set of nonacoustic positioning sensors (compasses, tilt-meters, pressure gauges). The acoustic data were inverted using two complementary approaches: a genetic algorithm (GA) like approach and a radial basis functions (RBF) inversion scheme. More traditional methods, based on core sampling, seismic survey and geophone data, together with Hamilton's regression curves, have also been employed on the same tracks, in order to provide a ground truth reference environment. The results of the experiment, can be summarized as follows: 1) the towed array movement is not negligible for the application considered and the use of positioning sensors are essential for a proper acoustic inversion, 2) the inversion with GA and RBF are in good qualitative agreement with the ground truth model, and 3) the GA scheme tends to have better stability properties. On the other hand, repeated in version of successive field measurements requires much less computational effort with RBF     

浅海沉积层声学特性对声传播损失的影响仿真研究

为厘清海底沉积层声学特性信息的水声环境保障需求,构建浅海两层海底环境参数模型,并参考Hamilton海底底质9种分类设置沉积层声速、密度、衰减系数及厚度的参考值及计算采样区间,利用Kraken简振波模型,采用控制变量的方法,研究了浅海沉积层声学特性参数对声传播损失的影响;开展了建模理论推导及数值技术分析,研究了海底沉积层声学特性参数在模型计算过程中调用过程,并从建模计算的角度对仿真计算的结果进行解释,对海底沉积层声学特性调查装备发展及调查重点参数具有一定的参考价值。     

Effects of seabed properties on acoustic wave fields in a seismo-acoustic ocean waveguide

Acoustic wave fields in an ocean waveguide with a sediment layer having continuously varying density and sound speed overlying an elastic subbottom are considered in this analysis. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of seabed acoustic properties, including the density and sound speed of the sediment layer and subbottom, on the characteristics of the wave fields. Examination of the reflection coefficient, wavenumber spectrum, and noise intensity of the sound field through numerical analysis has shown that the variation in the acoustic properties in the sediment layer is an important factor in determining the reflected or noise sound fields. In particular, the sediment thickness-to-wavelength ratio and the types of variation of acoustic properties inside the layer give rise to many characteristics that potentially allow for acoustic inversion of the seabed properties. With regard to the wave-field components in a shallow-water environment, the various types of waves existing in a seismo-acoustic waveguide have been illustrated. The results indicate that the effects of the sediment properties on the wavenumber spectrum are primarily on the continuous and evanescent regimes of the wave field. The noise intensity generated by distributive random monopoles at various depths, together with the effect of refractive sound-speed distribution in the water column, has been obtained and analyzed.     

感应耦合技术在海洋声学同步测量中的应用

海洋声场环境研究需要对不同深度的海洋声学环境要素进行同步测量,而感应耦合数据传输技术可实现多个单通道水声测量仪之间的同步采集和记录。文中阐述了感应耦合数据传输技术的特点及其在海洋声学环境同步测量中的应用,介绍了一种利用感应耦合数据传输技术实现数据同步测量的声学浮标系统,详细描述了系统的方案设计、结构组成及感应耦合部分的关键技术。实验水池测试表明,该系统工作稳定可靠,数据同步性好,具有良好的应用前景。     

基于长基线系统深海采矿ROV精确定位

对于深海采矿集矿机ROV的定位,采用传统的长基线水声定位系统通常存在较大误差。对此提出了一种新的算法模型,首先通过比较集矿机测量位置与前一次修正位置的几何关系,对当前集矿机的位置进行修正,然后利用新的集矿机位置修正声速的数值,并得出重新修正后的集矿机测量位置。这样反复的多重迭代使得在某一时刻集矿机ROV的测量位置逐步趋近其理想位置,实现长基线系统的水声精确的三维立体定位。通过数值仿真分析,结果显示与传统的长基线水声定位方法相比,通过该方法获得的集矿机行驶轨迹能更好地趋近其理想行驶曲线,表明该算法的有效性。     

Automatic Profiling System for Underice Measurements

The article is devoted to the development of an autonomous profiling system for measuring the aquatic environment under ice. The system moves up and down in the water column along a cable with a load at the lower end, which is lowered into a lane in the ice. The system carrier is designed for transporting an acoustic Doppler current profiler and a salinity, temperature, and pressure probe. The system will be useful for long-term measurements of vertical profiles of the current speed and marine environment parameters, as well as ice draft. The article describes in detail the structure and operation of the system. The hydraulic scheme of the carrier buoyancy system is presented.

     

On the use of acoustics for measuring shallow water suspendedsediment processes

Acoustics have the promise of being able to have a significant impact on our understanding of coastal sedimentary processes, which play such an important role in the dynamics of the coastal and shallow water environment. Due to this, the application of acoustics for remotely measuring suspended sediments, over ranges from metres to tens of metres, is gaining acceptance within the sediment community. This recognition of the use of acoustics to the area of sediment processes is based on advances which have been made decade in the understanding of the interaction of sound with marine suspended sediments, and also due to ongoing field observations which have shown the unique ability of the acoustic technique to measure suspended sediment profiles. In the present work acoustic measurements of suspended sediments have been conducted at 1, 2.5, 3, and 5 MHz in a number of different shallow water environments. The interpretation of the acoustic data to obtain suspended sediment concentration is presented, and some of the difficulties when inverting the acoustic information to obtain the suspended load are considered. Some discussion is also given to future uses of acoustics for studying sediment processes, and how one may utilize the application of underwater sound to manage our coastal environment more effectively     

海底沉积物声速-压力特性测试系统的设计与实验

文中设计基于可编程逻辑控制器(PLC)的测控平台、伺服加压控制、步进推动控制、多传感器测量、触摸屏交互等功能的温压可控声学测量系统,实现海底沉积物样品的孔隙水自动可控加压,通过声学测量功能单元测量海底沉积物在各个压力下的声速,模拟海底沉积物处于大陆坡2 000 m以浅海底表层任何深度变化时的声学特性测量,得到海底沉积物声速-压力特性,为校正实验室测量数据还原到海底原位测量数据提供一种方法。     

Performance Analysis for Matched-Field Source Localization: Simulations and Experimental Results

Matched-field methods concern estimation of source locations and/or ocean environmental parameters by exploiting full wave modeling of acoustic waveguide propagation. Typical estimation performance demonstrates two fundamental limitations. First, sidelobe ambiguities dominate the estimation at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), leading to a threshold performance behavior. Second, most matched-field algorithms show a strong sensitivity to environmental/system mismatch, introducing biased estimates at high SNR. In this paper, some theoretical developments on matched-field performance analysis are summarized, including Bayesian performance bounds and probabilistic ambiguity analysis, both incorporating environmental/system uncertainty/mismatch. Performance analysis is then implemented for source localization in a typical shallow water environment chosen from the Shallow Water Evaluation Cell Experiments (SWellEX). The performance predictions describe the simulations of the maximum-likelihood estimator (MLE) well, including the mean-square error (MSE) in all SNR regions as well as the bias at high SNR. The threshold SNR and bias predictions are also validated through SWellEX experimental data processing. The results suggest the current environmental, acoustic, and statistical modeling has developed to such a level that the optimum theoretical matched-field performance can be achieved in a well-controlled experiment.     

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.     

自主回收UUV水声定位与遥测遥控导引技术研究

针对 UUV 任务结束或能源不足时自主回收的需求,深入研究了 UUV 中远程水声定位与遥测遥控导引技术,完成了水声定位与遥测遥控导引系统方案设计,重点研究了 MFSK、OFDM、扩频等水声遥测遥控调制方式。 通过分析和对比,设计了一种正交混合扩频调制方式,并采用相干二维搜索技术,提高扩频技术多普勒补偿能力。 开展了湖上静态与动态跑船试验,试验数据结果表明:水声水平定位精度优于 0. 5%,水声遥测遥控系统解算误码率达到了 10^-3 数量级,可有效引导 UUV 回收作业。     

基于PIES观测东沙群岛附近声传播变化

本研究旨在将PIES观测数据应用于海洋水声环境的监测。利用一次南海PIES观测数据,反演得到温盐剖面,进而计算声场信息。结合观测期间的暖涡及台风事件对反演及计算结果进行了分析验证。结果表明,PIES能够在长期连续观测中较为敏感地捕获上层水体及表面声道的变化特征,为水声通信、探测及潜航路径规划等提供参考,在水声研究及海洋军事环境保障中都具有良好的应用前景。