Acoustic tracking of a freely drifting sonobuoy field: experimental results

This paper describes a regularized acoustic inversion algorithm for tracking individual elements of a freely drifting sonobuoy field using measured acoustic arrival times from a series of impulsive sources. The acoustic experiment involved 11 sonobuoys distributed over an 8/spl times/6-km field, with a total of six sources deployed over 72 min. The inversion solves for an independent track for each sonobuoy (parameterized by the sonobuoy positions at the time of each source transmission), as well as for the source positions and transmission instants. Although this is a strongly under-determined problem, meaningful solutions are obtained by incorporating a priori information consisting of prior estimates (with uncertainties) for the source positions and initial sonobuoy positions and a physical model for sonobuoy motion along preferentially smooth tracks. The inversion results indicate that the sonobuoys move approximately 260-700 m during the source-deployment period. Closely spaced sonobuoys move along similar tracks; however, there is considerable variability in track directions over the entire field. Positioning uncertainties in horizontal coordinates are estimated using a Monte Carlo appraisal procedure to be approximately 100 m in an absolute sense and 65 m in a relative sense. A sensitivity study indicates that the uncertainties of the a priori position estimates are the limiting factor for track accuracy, rather than data uncertainties or source configuration.     

Modelling the role of climate,vegetation and pedogenesis in shallow translational hillslope failure

Recent research in geomorphology has considered the significance of progressive pedogenesis and climatic change to slope failure initiation for the Holocene, using physically based models. To date, the significance of vegetation change to slope stability has been largely unexplored through modelling, since available physically based models cannot consider vegetation effects directly. To address the existing deficiency this paper adapts, parameterizes and applies a physically based model of slope hydrology and stability to the combined effect of vegetation change and progessive pedogenesis on slope failure initiation. There is considerable debate in the literature concerning the relative significance of climatic change and vegetation modification to slope failure initiation in the Holocene. This paper uses the model to provide additional evidence for situations in which either climatic or vegetation change is significant to slope failure, depending on the prevailing degree of soil development. The results indicate that young podsols appear to be stable under all the climatic and vegetation conditions considered, but mature podsols may be susceptible to failure. Both climate and vegetation influence slope stability, but their relative significance depends on the stage of soil development. In particular, the stability of young soils is influenced considerably by vegetation, while climate assumes greater significance in mature soils. It is recognized that this conclusion is limited to freely draining podsol profiles, and that more research is needed to consider other soil type and vegetation combinations.     

The cycle of instability: stress release and fissure flow as controls on gully head retreat

Gully head and wall retreat has commonly been attributed to fluvial scour and head collapse as a result of soil saturation, sapping or piping. The empirical evidence to substantiate these conceptual models is sparse, however, and often contradictory. This paper explores the hydrological and mechanical controls on gully head and wall stability by modelling the hydrology, stability and elastic deformation of a marl gully complex in Granada Province, south‐east Spain. The hydrological and slope‐stability simulations show that saturated conditions can be reached only where preferential fissure flow channels water from tension cracks into the base of the gully head, and that vertical or subvertical heads will be stable unless saturation is achieved. Owing to the high unsaturated strengths of marl measured in this research, failure in unsaturated conditions is possible only where the gully head wall is significantly undercut. Head retreat thus requires the formation of either a tension crack or an undercut hollow. Finite‐element stress analysis of eroding slopes reveals a build up of shear stress at the gully head base, and a second stress anomaly just upslope of the head wall. Although tension cracks on gully heads have often been attributed to slope unloading, this research provides strong evidence that the so called ‘sapping hollow’ commonly found in the gully headwall base is also a function of stress release. Although further research is needed, it seems possible that ‘pop out’ failures in river channels may be caused by the same process. The hydrological analysis shows that, once a tension crack has developed, throughflow velocity in the gully headwall will increase by an order of magnitude, promoting piping and enlargement of this weakened area. It is, therefore, possible to envisage a cycle of gully expansion in which erosion, channel incision or human action unloads the slope below a gully head, leading to stress patterns that account for the tension crack and a stress‐release hollow. The tension crack promotes faster throughflow, encouraging hollow enlargement and piping, which undercut the gully head. The tension crack permits the development of positive pore‐water pressures behind the gully head, leading either to failure or contributing to toppling. Finally the debris may be eroded by fluvial action, unloading a new section of slope and completing the cycle of gully head retreat. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-precision array element localization for vertical line arraysin the Arctic Ocean

Array element localization (AEL) surveys are often required to accurately localize acoustic instruments (transponders or sensors) in the ocean. These are typically based on transmitting or recording acoustic signals from or at a set of well-known positions. A significant limiting factor in many AEL surveys is the uncertainty inherent in these “known” positions. In this paper, an inversion algorithm is developed which properly treats both transponder and sensor positions as unknowns, subject to available a priori information in the form of position estimates and uncertainties. The algorithm essentially consists of an iterative linearized inversion of the raytracing equations employing the method of regularization. The approach is applied to independently localize transponders and vertical line array (VLA) sensors that form part of a three-dimensional sensor array in the Arctic Ocean. Confidence limits estimated via Monte Carlo simulation indicate that transponders and sensors are localized to less than 1 m in three dimensions. The VLA sensor motion, monitored over a seven-week period, appears to be predominately driven by tidal currents and is consistent with historical current measurements for the region