Impacts of seafloor characteristics on three-dimensional sound propagation in a submarine canyon.

Three-dimensional (3D) underwater sound propagation in a submarine canyon is investigated with a numerical model and a dataset collected in a towed source experiment. This study emphasizes the impacts of seafloor bathymetry and sediment properties, which may alter the strength of 3D sound reflections from canyon seafloor. Specifically, the numerical model is utilized to analyze the sensitivity of seafloor morphology and sediment types affecting sound propagation in the canyon. The acoustic data reveals a canyon focusing effect, and the numerical model successfully reproduces the location of the focal area and confirms the focusing effect caused by the canyon bathymetry.

Effects of nonlinear internal gravity waves on normal-incident reflection measurements of seafloor sediments.

Sonar data acquired by sub-bottom profilers and echosounder systems are widely used to estimate geoacoustic properties of marine sediments. However, the uncertainty of the seabed property estimates caused by water-column variability may limit the application. In this paper, the acoustic focusing and defocusing effects of nonlinear internal gravity waves on normal-incident acoustic reflection measurements are studied. The experiment data were collected in the South China Sea from two transceiver moorings located at two different sites, one of which contained strong nonlinear internal waves (NIWs), while another site did not. The observed reflection intensity variation at the internal wave site varied up to 10 dB. On the other hand, the bottom reflections at the other site without internal waves were stable, and a seafloor sediment sample collected there was analyzed to validate the sediment type inferred from bottom loss. Numerical simulations using ray-tracing and parabolic equation models confirmed the cause of this intensity fluctuation by the acoustic focusing and defocusing of NIWs. This study eventually showed that NIWs may induce a significant bias for geoacoustic property estimates from seabed reflection coefficients.

Surficial sediment sound speed estimation from wide-angle multipath arrivals.

Multipath acoustic arrivals on fixed receivers from a moving source in an underwater waveguide include wide-angle bottom reflections that are affected by sediment properties. Hence, one can use them as input data for seabed geoacoustic parameter estimation. In this study, the effects of seabed properties on such measurements are theoretically analyzed. The result shows that one can utilize time delays and source distances at the critical angle points of multipath arrivals to determine the sediment sound speed. The effect of sediment attenuation is also discussed, and the proposed method is demonstrated with experimental data.

Experimental observations of diurnal acoustic propagation effects in seagrass meadows on the Dongsha Atoll.

Large regions with seagrass meadows have been discovered on Dongsha Atoll located in the South China Sea. The aim of this study is the estimation of acoustic propagation loss in the frequency range of individual bubble resonance due to the gas content of seagrass in seagrass meadows. Specifically, this study seeks to (a) investigate the attenuation of the mid-frequency (2-8 kHz) signal induced by the gas content in a seagrass meadow and (b) present the diurnal variation of sound attenuation. The results demonstrate that >40 dB diurnal variations of mid-frequency propagation loss was observed in shallow seagrass meadow region.

Resonant interaction of acoustic waves with subaqueous bedforms: Sand dunes in the South China Sea.

The large subaqueous sand dunes in the South China Sea are expected to produce the coupling of energy between acoustic normal modes. In this letter, resonant interaction between acoustic propagating modes and subaqueous bedforms are numerically investigated as a function of bedform wavelength, acoustic frequency and bedform packet length. The results demonstrate that bedform wavelength impacts acoustic mode coupling behavior, with the principal transfer of energy occurring between acoustic modes whose eigenvalue difference is equal to the peak value in the bedform wavenumber spectrum. The observed effect of wavelength is greater than that of acoustic frequency and bedform packet length.

Normal incidence measurement in a subaqueous sand dune field in the South China Sea.

Regions with subaqueous sand dunes have been discovered on the upper continental slope of the northern South China Sea. These large subaqueous sand dunes are expected to cause errors in the measurement of normal incidence reflection. This letter presents experiment results of two normal incidence survey tracks conducted in 2013, and the errors in reflection coefficient estimation and the resulting sediment properties induced by sand dune bedforms. The results demonstrate that the reflected energy is focused and scattered by different parts of sand dune bedforms and that they produce significant variation in the estimated reflection coefficients and the inverted geoacoustic properties.

Acoustic mode coupling due to subaqueous sand dunes in the South China Sea.

The large subaqueous sand dunes on the upper continental slope of the South China Sea are expected to couple acoustic propagating normal modes. In this letter, the criterion of adiabatic invariance is extended to the case of a waveguide possessing bedforms. Using the extended criterion to examine mode propagation over the bedforms observed in the sand dune field in 2012, results demonstrate that bedforms increase mode coupling strength such that the criterion for adiabatic propagation is exceeded for waveguides with small bedform amplitude to water depth ratios; increasing bedform amplitude enhances mode coupling. Numerical simulations confirm the extended criterion parameterization.

Enhanced acoustic mode coupling resulting from an internal solitary wave approaching the shelfbreak in the South China Sea.

Internal waves and bathymetric variation create time- and space-dependent alterations in the ocean acoustic waveguide, and cause subsequent coupling of acoustic energy between propagating normal modes. In this paper, the criterion for adiabatic invariance is extended to the case of an internal solitary wave (ISW) encountering a sloping bathymetry (i.e., continental shelfbreak). Predictions based on the extended criterion for adiabatic invariance are compared to experimental observations from the Asian Seas International Acoustics Experiment. Using a mode 1 starter field, results demonstrate time-dependent coupling of mode 1 energy to higher adjacent modes, followed by abrupt coupling of mode 5-7 energy to nonadjacent modes 8-20, produces enhanced mode coupling and higher received levels downrange of the oceanographic and bathymetric features. Numerical simulations demonstrate that increasing ISW amplitude and seafloor slope enhance the coupling of energy to adjacent and nonadjacent modes. This enhanced coupling is the direct result of the simultaneous influence of the ISW and its proximity to the shelfbreak, and, compared to the individual effect of the ISW or shelfbreak, has the capacity to scatter 2-4 times the amount of acoustic energy from below the thermocline into the upper water column beyond the shelfbreak in realistic environments.

Focused sound from three-dimensional sound propagation effects over a submarine canyon.

Ship noise data reveal an intensification of the near-surface sound field over a submarine canyon. Numerical modeling of sound propagation is used to study the effect. The noise data were collected during an ocean acoustic and physical oceanography experiment northeast of Taiwan in 2009. In situ measurements of water sound-speed profiles and a database of high-resolution bathymetry are used in the modeling study. The model results suggest that the intensification is caused by three-dimensional sound focusing by the concave canyon seafloor. Uncertainties in the model results from unsampled aspects of the environment are discussed.