Long range transmission loss of broadband seismic pulses in the Arctic under ice-free conditions.

ABSTRACT

In 2008 the Louis S. St-Laurent (LSSL) surveyed deep Arctic waters using a three-airgun seismic source. Signals from the seismic survey were detected between 400 km and 1300 km range on a directional autonomous acoustic recorder deployed in water 53 m deep off the Alaskan North Slope. Observations of received signal levels between 10-450 Hz versus LSSL range roughly fit a cylindrical transmission loss model plus 0.01 dB/km attenuation in deep ice-free waters, and fit previous empirical models in ice-covered waters. The transition between ice-free and ice-covered propagation conditions shifted 200 km closer to the recorder during the survey.