V. A. Grigor’ev

Attenuation of sound in shallow-water areas with gas-saturated bottoms

We investigated the specific features low-frequency (50–300 Hz) sound propagation in shallow-water areas to relatively small distances r ≈ 3H–50H from the sound source, where H is the waveguide depth. The bottoms of water areas were assumed to be fluid homogeneous gas-containing media. Situations were compared in which the sound velocity in the bottom is higher and lower than in the water layer (hard and soft bottom). It was confirmed in experiment that the average effective sound velocity in the bottom may have rather low values (≈100 m/s). The mode description of the acoustic field was used in calculations, and both propagating and outgoing modes, including quasi-modes, were taken into account. The averaged dependences of the field intensity decay on distance were obtained for different frequencies and sound velocities in the bottom. The sound damping factors β in the waveguide were found as functions of frequency and sound velocity in the bottom. It is shown that for a soft bottom, the value of β monotonically increases with an increase in the sound velocity in the bottom, while for a hard bottom, β monotonically decreases. The maximum of β depends on the sound frequency and is reached at the approximate equality of the sound velocities in the bottom and water.

Low-frequency bottom reverberation in shallow-water ocean regions

A phenomenological model of long-range reverberation in a shallow sea is developed to describe the statistical characteristics and interference of the sound field scattered by bottom inhomogeneities. Experimental data on the scattering of low-frequency sound by the sea bottom are presented for a shallow-water region of the Barents Sea. The results of a numerical simulation of the low-frequency bottom reverberation in a multimode waveguide are described. The simulation is based on experimentally measured values of backscattering strength.

Field focusing control in multimode plane-layered waveguides

The possibility of controlling localized fields in multimode regular waveguides on the basis of the interference invariant principle is studied by numerical simulation. It is demonstrated that, by tuning the radiation frequency of an array without changing the initial field distribution at the aperture, it is possible to perform the scanning by a focal spot in a waveguide. Estimates of the efficiency of this method depending on the size of a vertical linear array are presented.

Determination of the Absorbing and Scattering Properties of the Sea Floor in a Shallow Water Environment by the Spectra of Wide-Band Signals

Sound propagation in a shallow sea is considered within the framework of the two-component model of the sea floor. The porosity and the coefficients of absorption and volume scattering are treated as the parameters characterizing the sea floor. These parameters are determined on the basis of the comparison between the experimental and theoretical frequency spectra of a signal received from a wide-band source. A conclusion is made about the relative contributions of different mechanisms of losses (absorption or scattering) in the sea floor at different sound frequencies.

On the possibility of representing an acoustic field in shallow water as the sum of normal modes and quasimodes

Using the example of a shallow-water acoustic waveguide with a homogeneous water layer of constant thickness H lying on a homogeneous fluid absorbing half-space (bottom), we obtain estimates of distance r from a source, for which it is possible to ignore the continuous spectrum for the mode description of the depth dependence of the intensity of a low-frequency sound field in the bottom layer. We have compared two discrete representations of the field using (1) the total set of normal modes and (2) the total set of normal modes and quasimodes. It is shown that in the case when there is at least one normal mode in the channel, additional allowance for quasimodes makes it possible by an order of magnitude to approximate the boundary of applicability of mode theory and on average establish it at a level of r ~ H or less. We explain the functional dependences of the contribution of the continuous spectrum to the total field on the waveguide parameters and find the conditions of its minimization. We present examples of description of the field in the bottom, where the advantage of using quasimodes at short distances is also demonstrated.

Intensity variations of high-frequency sound pulses due to the motion of shallow-water internal solitons

Intensity variations of high-frequency sound pulses due to the motion of internal solitons in shallow water are investigated in terms of the ray approximation. It is shown that ray distortions cause intensity fluctuations of about 3–5 dB. It is found that rays with turning points near the upper boundary of the thermocline play the dominant role in the formation of these fluctuations. Formulas for estimating the fluctuation frequencies predominantly observed in the spectrum of intensity variations are presented.

Interferometric method for estimating the velocity of a noise sound source and the distance to it in shallow water using a vector-scalar receiver

An experiment on estimating the velocity of a noise source and the distance to it using a single vector-scalar receiver has been performed on shallow-water Pacific shelf. Expressions for the components of the vector-scalar receiver field are derived. The source parameters are reconstructed using the interferometric method. The noise immunity of the method is analyzed for different acoustic field components and their combinations. The sensitivity of the method with respect to changes in the bottom parameters is considered.

Energy fluctuations of high-frequency sound signals in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear internal waves

The paper presents an analysis of energy fluctuations of high-frequency (2–4.5 kHz) sound signals propagating in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear (soliton-like) internal waves (2006 Shallow Water experiment, US Atlantic shelf). Signals were received by three single hydrophones in different directions at distances of ∼4, ∼12, and ∼5 km from the source. The angle between the first two acoustic tracks was ∼15°. The third track was almost an extension of the first and was on the other side of the source. A relatively short (one to two solitons) nonlinear internal wave packet first moved approximately along the first two tracks and then along the third track. It is demonstrated that in the presence of solitons on the track in the frequency spectrum of energy fluctuations, there is an isolated frequency that depends, in particular, on the angle between the soliton front and the acoustic track. The experimental results agree well with the theory previously proposed by the authors, where the occurrence mechanism of fluctuations is explained using the ray approach.

Characteristics of the Diffraction of Acoustic Waves in Stratified Sound Channels

The results of calculations performed in the framework of the approximate approach developed by the authors are presented for the diffraction of sound waves by a stiff spheroid in an acoustic waveguide. The scattered sound field is analyzed as a function of the following parameters of the problem: the spheroid dimensions, its position relative to the sound source and the receiver, the vertical profile of sound velocity in the waveguide, and the acoustic parameters of the waveguide bottom.

Determining the effective parameters of a Shallow-Water bottom from wideband signal spectra under conditions of hydrodynamic variability

We propose a method for determining the effective parameters of the upper marine sediment layer on extended tracks from the spectra of wideband signals in conditions of hydrodynamic variability. As an example, we consider the Shallow Water 2006 experiment on the Atlantic shelf of the United States, which used signals with a band of 300 ± 30 Hz received by a vertical array. The length of the track was ~20 km at a sea depth of ~80 m. Frequency-mode analysis of the received signals showed that spatiotemporal fluctuations of the wave medium lead to random changes in mode amplitudes while retaining the relative stability of the mode phase difference. This is the basis of the proposed method, which makes it possible to determine the track-averaged values of the sound velocity in the bottom and density of the bottom under conditions of hydrodynamic variability.