Brian D. Dushaw

Barotropic and Baroclinic Tides in the Central North Pacific Ocean Determined from Long-Range Reciprocal Acoustic Transmissions

Abstract Travel times of reciprocal 1000-km range acoustic transmissions, determined from the 1987 Reciprocal Tomography Experiment, are used to study barotropic tidal currents and a large-scale, coherent baroclinic tide in the central North Pacific Ocean. The difference in reciprocal travel times determines the tidal currents, while the sum of reciprocal travel times determines the baroclinic tide displacement of isotachs (or equivalently, isotherms). The barotropic tidal current accounts for 90% of the observed differential travel time variance. The measured harmonic constants of the eight major tidal constituents of the barotropic tide and the constants determined from current meter measurements agree well with the empirical–numerical tidal models of Schwiderski and Cartwright et al. The amplitudes and phases of the first-mode baroclinic tide determined from sum travel times agree with those determined from moored thermistors and current meters. The baroclinic tidal signals are consistent with a large-...

On equations for the speed of sound in seawater.

Long‐range acoustic transmissions made in conjunction with extensive environmental measurements and accurate mooring position determinations have been used to test the accuracy of equations used to calculate sound speed from pressure, temperature, and salinity. The sound‐speed field computed using the Del Grosso equation [V. A. Del Grosso, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 56, 1084–1091 (1974)] give predictions of acoustic arrival patterns which agree significantly better with the long‐range measurements than those computed using the Chen and Millero equation [C. Chen and F. J. Millero, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 62, 1129–1135 (1977)]. The predicted ray travel times and travel time error have been calculated using objectively mapped sound‐speed fields computed from CTD and XBT data. Using the measured and predicted ray travel times, a negligible correction to Del Grosso’s equation of 0.05±0.05 m/s at 4000‐m depth is calculated. Small errors of about 50 m in the GPS determination of mooring positions lends a depth‐independent ...

Interference Pattern and Propagation of the M2 Internal Tide South of the Hawaiian Ridge

Abstract Most of the M2 internal tide energy generated at the Hawaiian Ridge radiates away in modes 1 and 2, but direct observation of these propagating waves is complicated by the complexity of the bathymetry at the generation region and by the presence of interference patterns. Observations from satellite altimetry, a tomographic array, and the R/P FLIP taken during the Farfield Program of the Hawaiian Ocean Mixing Experiment (HOME) are found to be in good agreement with the output of a high-resolution primitive equation model, simulating the generation and propagation of internal tides. The model shows that different modes are generated with different amplitudes along complex topography. Multiple sources produce internal tides that sum constructively and destructively as they propagate. The major generation sites can be identified using a simplified 2D idealized knife-edge ridge model. Four line sources located on the Hawaiian Ridge reproduce the interference pattern of sea surface height and energy fl...

Multimegameter-range acoustic data obtained by bottom-mounted hydrophone arrays for measurement of ocean temperature

Acoustic signals transmitted from the ATOC source on Pioneer Seamount off the coast of California have been received at various sites around the Pacific Basin since January 1996. We describe data obtained using bottom-mounted receivers, including US Navy Sound Surveillance System arrays, at ranges up to 5 Mm from the Pioneer Seamount source. Stable identifiable ray arrivals are observed in several cases, but some receiving arrays are not well suited to detecting the direct ray arrivals. At 5-Mm range, travel-time variations at tidal frequencies (about 50 ms peak to peak) agree well with predicted values, providing verification of the acoustic measurements as well as the tidal model. On the longest and northernmost acoustic paths, the time series of resolved ray travel times show an annual cycle peak-to-peak variation of about 1 s and other fluctuations caused by natural oceanic variability. An annual cycle is not evident in travel times from shorter acoustic paths in the eastern Pacific, though only one realization of the annual cycle is available. The low-pass-filtered travel times are estimated to an accuracy of about 10 ms. This travel-time uncertainty corresponds to errors in range- and depth-averaged temperature of only a few millidegrees, while the annual peak-to-peak variation in temperature averaged horizontally over the acoustic path and vertically over the upper 1 km of ocean is up to 0.5/spl deg/C.

A TOPEX/POSEIDON global tidal model (TPXO.2) and barotropic tidal currents determined from long-range acoustic transmissions

Abstract Tidal currents derived from the TPXO.2 global tidal model of Egbert, Bennett, and Foreman are compared with those determined from long-range reciprocal acoustic transmissions. Amplitudes and phases of tidal constituents in the western North Atlantic are derived from acoustic data obtained in 1991 – 1992 using a pentagonal array of transceivers. Small, spatially coherent differences between the measured and modeled tidal harmonic constants mostly result from smoothing assumptions made in the model and errors caused in the model currents by complicated topography to the southwest of the acoustical array. Acoustically measured harmonic constants (amplitude, phase) of M2 tidal vorticity (3–8 × 10−9s−1, 210–310°) agree with those derived from the TPXO.2 model (2–5 × 10−9s−1, 250–300°), whereas harmonic constants of about (1–2 × 10−9s−1, 350−360°) are theoretically expected from the equations of motion. Harmonic constants in the North Pacific Ocean are determined using acoustic data from a triangular transceiver array deployed in 1987. These constants are consistent with those given by the TPXO.2 tidal model within the uncertainties. Tidal current harmonic constants determined from current meters do not generally provide a critical test of tidal models. The tidal currents have been estimated to high accuracy using long-range reciprocal acoustic transmissions; these estimates will be useful constraints on future global tidal models.

The North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory deep-water acoustic propagation experiments in the Philippine Sea

A series of experiments conducted in the Philippine Sea during 2009-2011 investigated deep-water acoustic propagation and ambient noise in this oceanographically and geologically complex region: (i) the 2009 North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory (NPAL) Pilot Study/Engineering Test, (ii) the 2010-2011 NPAL Philippine Sea Experiment, and (iii) the Ocean Bottom Seismometer Augmentation of the 2010-2011 NPAL Philippine Sea Experiment. The experimental goals included (a) understanding the impacts of fronts, eddies, and internal tides on acoustic propagation, (b) determining whether acoustic methods, together with other measurements and ocean modeling, can yield estimates of the time-evolving ocean state useful for making improved acoustic predictions, (c) improving our understanding of the physics of scattering by internal waves and spice, (d) characterizing the depth dependence and temporal variability of ambient noise, and (e) understanding the relationship between the acoustic field in the water column and the seismic field in the seafloor. In these experiments, moored and ship-suspended low-frequency acoustic sources transmitted to a newly developed distributed vertical line array receiver capable of spanning the water column in the deep ocean. The acoustic transmissions and ambient noise were also recorded by a towed hydrophone array, by acoustic Seagliders, and by ocean bottom seismometers.

A review of recent results on ocean acoustic wave propagation in random media: basin scales

Measurements of basin-scale acoustic transmissions made during the last four years by the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) program have allowed for the study of acoustic fluctuations of low-frequency pulse propagation at ranges of 1000 to 5000 km. Analysis of data from the ATOC Acoustic Engineering Test conducted in November 1994 has revealed new and unexpected results for the physics of ocean acoustic wave propagation in random media. In particular, use of traditional /spl Lambda/, /spl Phi/ methods (using the Garrett-Munk (GM) internal wave model) to identify the wave propagation regime for early identifiable wavefronts predict the saturated regime, whereas observations of intensity probability density functions, intensity variance, and pulse time spread and wander suggest that the propagation is more likely near the border between the unsaturated and partially saturated regimes. Calculations of the diffraction parameter /spl Lambda/ are very sensitive to the broad-band nature of the transmitted pulse, with CW calculations differing from a simplistic broad-band calculation by 10/sup 3/. A simple model of pulse propagation using the Born approximation shows that CW and broad-band cases are sensitive to a random medium very differently and a theoretical description of broad-band effects for pulse propagation through a random media remains a fundamental unsolved problem in ocean acoustics. The observations show that, at 75-Hz center frequency, acoustic normal mode propagation is strongly nonadiabatic due to random media effects caused by internal waves. Simulations at a lower frequency of 28 Hz suggest that the first few modes might be treated adiabatically even in a random ocean. This raises the possibility of using modal techniques for ocean acoustic tomography, thereby increasing the vertical resolution of thermometry. Finally, the observation of unsaturated or partially saturated propagation for 75-Hz broad-band transmissions, like those of ATOC, suggests that ray-based tomography will be robust at basin-scales. This opens up the possibility of ray-based internal wave tomography using the observables of travel time variance, and vertical and temporal coherence. Using geometrical optics and the GM internal wave spectrum, internal wave tomography for an assortment of parameters of the chi model can be formulated in terms of a mixed linear/nonlinear inverse. This is a significant improvement upon a Monte Carlo approach presented in this paper which is used to infer average internal wave energies as a function of depth for the SLICE89 experiment. However, this Monte Carlo approach demonstrated, for the SLICE89 experiment, that the GM model failed to render a consistent inverse for acoustic energy which sampled the upper 100 m of the ocean. Until a new theory for the forward problem is advanced, internal wave tomography utilizing the signal from strong mode coupling can only be carried out using time-consuming Monte Carlo methods.

Barotropic currents and vorticity in the central North Pacific Ocean during summer 1987 determined from long-range reciprocal acoustic transmissions

Large-scale depth-integrated currents and relative vorticity were measured in the central North Pacific Ocean during summer 1987 using long-range reciprocal acoustic transmissions between transceivers in a triangle approximately 1000 km on a side. Inverse techniques were used to estimate the depth-averaged (barotropic) current bihourly at 4-day intervals from differential travel times. Tidal constituent amplitudes and phases found from the acoustically determined currents agree with those found from current meters and with the tidal models of Schwiderski (1980) and Cartwright et al. (1992), providing confirmation that the tomographically derived barotropic currents are correct within the expected uncertainties. The estimated low-frequency, large-scale currents are compared with depth-averaged currents determined by point measurements using current meters and bottom-mounted electrometers. Meridional and zonal currents are calculated using the topographic Sverdrup balance with the Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center wind field. The measured time derivative of the areally averaged relative vorticity is shown to be insignificant to the Sverdrup balance. Currents and vorticity calculated using the Sverdrup balance are an order of magnitude smaller than the observations. The magnitude and variability of the large-scale currents and vorticity determined from the Semtner and Chervin (1988) eddy-resolving model of ocean circulation are similar to the direct measurements.

Variability of heat content in the central North Pacific in summer 1987 determined from long-range acoustic transmissions

Abstract The evolution of the heat content in the central North Pacific Ocean during summer 1987 has been measured using acoustic transmissions between transceivers deployed in a triangle approximately 1000 km on a side. The acoustically determined heat contents of the source-receiver sections agree with heat contents computed from CTD and XBT data obtained during May and September 1987. The accuracy of acoustical measurements of range-averaged heat content is comparable to estimates from CTD and XBT data. Transmissions at four-day intervals allow the continuous observation of heat content and show that it varies on time scales of weeks or less. The magnitude of these variations is of the same order as that observed from XBT sections, which are only occasionally available. Ocean–atmosphere heat exchange from bulk formulas accounts for only about half of the observed heat content increase from May through September 1987, indicating that advective effects are important in the region. The excess heat change ...

Horizontal refraction of acoustic signals retrieved from North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory billboard array data

In 1998–1999, a comprehensive low-frequency long-range sound propagation experiment was carried out by the North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory (NPAL). In this paper, the data recorded during the experiment by a billboard acoustic array were used to compute the horizontal refraction of the arriving acoustic signals using both ray- and mode-based approaches. The results obtained by these two approaches are consistent. The acoustic signals exhibited weak (if any) regular horizontal refraction throughut most of the experiment. However, it increased up to 0.4 deg (the sound rays were bent towards the south) at the beginning and the end of the experiment. These increases occurred during midspring to midsummer time and seemed to reflect seasonal trends in the horizontal gradients of the sound speed. The measured standard deviation of the horizontal refraction angles was about 0.37 deg, which is close to an estimate of this standard deviation calculated using 3D modal theory of low-frequency sound propagation throu...