An overview of SAX99: acoustic measurements

Author

Thorsos, Eric I. ; Williams, Kevin L. ; Chotiros, Nicholas P. ; Christoff, James T. ; Commander, Kerry W. ; Greenlaw, Charles F. ; Holliday, D. Vance ; Jackson, Darrell R. ; Lopes, Joseph L. ; McGehee, Duncan E. ; Piper, John E. ; Richardson, Michael D. ;

Author_Institution

Appl. Phys. Lab., Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, USA

Volume

26

Issue

1

fYear

2001

fDate

1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

4

Lastpage

25

Abstract

A high-frequency acoustic experiment was performed at a site 2 km from shore on the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach in water of 18-19 m depth. The goal of the experiment was, for high-frequency acoustic fields (mostly In the 10-300-kHz range), to quantify backscattering from the seafloor sediment, penetration into the sediment, and propagation within the sediment. In addition, spheres and other objects were used to gather data on acoustic detection of buried objects. The high-frequency acoustic interaction with the medium sand sediment was investigated at grazing angles both above and below the critical angle of about 30°. Detailed characterizations of the upper seafloor physical properties were made to aid in quantifying the acoustic interaction with the seafloor. Biological processes within the seabed and the water column were also investigated with the goal of understanding their impact on acoustic properties. This paper summarizes the topics that motivated the experiment, outlines the scope of the measurements done, and presents preliminary acoustics results

Keywords

acoustic field; backscatter; buried object detection; oceanographic techniques; seafloor phenomena; sediments; sonar imaging; synthetic aperture sonar; ultrasonic imaging; ultrasonic scattering; underwater sound; 10 to 300 kHz; 18 to 19 m; SAX99 experiment; acoustic detection; acoustic imaging; backscattering; buried objects; critical angle; grazing angles; high-frequency sediment acoustic experiment; medium sand sediment; penetration into sediment; propagation in sediment; seabed biological processes; seafloor sediment; synthetic aperture sonar; upper seafloor physical properties; Acoustic measurements; Acoustic propagation; Acoustic signal detection; Backscatter; Biological processes; Buried object detection; Sea floor; Sediments; Underwater acoustics; Water;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0364-9059

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/48.917916

Filename

917916