Underwater acoustics

Underwater acoustics is the study of the propagation of sound in water and the interaction of the mechanical waves that constitute sound with the water and its boundaries. The water may be in the ocean, a lake or a tank. It may involve frequencies of 1 Hz to 1 MHz at least. This field is sometimes known as hydroacoustics.

The field of underwater acoustics is closely related to a number of other fields of acoustic study, including sonar, transduction, acoustic signal processing, acoustical oceanography, bioacoustics, and physical acoustics.

History

Underwater sound has probably been used by marine animals for millions of years. The science of underwater acoustics began in 1490, when Leonardo Da Vinci wrote,

"If you cause your ship to stop and place the head of a long tube in the water and place the outer extremity to your ear, you will hear ships at a great distance from you."

In 1687 Isaac Newton wrote his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy which included the first mathematical treatment of sound. The next major step in the development of underwater acoustics was made by Daniel Colladon, a Swiss physicist, and Charles Sturm, a French mathematician. In 1826, on Lake Geneva, they measured the elapsed time between a flash of light and the sound of a submerged ship's bell heard using an underwater listening horn. They measured a sound speed of 1435 meters per second over a 17 kilometer distance, providing the first quantitative measurement of sound speed in water. The result they obtained was within about 2 % of currently accepted values. In 1877 Lord Rayleigh wrote the Theory of Sound and established modern acoustic theory.

The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the start of World War I provided the impetus for the next wave of progress in underwater acoustics. Anti-submarine listening systems were developed. Between 1912 and 1914, a number of echolocation patents were granted in Europe and the U.S., culminating in Reginald A. Fessenden's echo-ranger in 1914. Pioneering work was carried out during this time in France by Paul Langevin and in Britain by A B Wood and associates. The development of both active ASDIC and passive sonar (SOund Navigation And Ranging) proceeded apace during the war, driven by the first large scale deployments of submarines. Other advances in underwater acoustics included the development of acoustic mines.

In 1919, the first scientific paper on underwater acoustics was published , theoretically describing the refraction of sound rays produced by temperature and salinity gradients in the ocean. The range predictions of the paper were experimentally validated by transmission loss measurements.

The next two decades saw the development of several applications of underwater acoustics. The fathometer, or depth sounder, was developed commercially during the 1920s. Originally natural materials were used for the transducers, but by the 1930s sonar systems incorporating piezoelectric transducers made from synthetic materials were being used for passive listening systems and for active echo-ranging systems. These systems were used to good effect during World War II by both submarines and anti-submarine vessels. Many advances in underwater acoustics were made which were summarised later in the series Physics of Sound in the Sea, published in 1946.

After World War II, the development of sonar systems was driven largely by the Cold War, resulting in advances in the theoretical and practical understanding of underwater acoustics, aided by computer-based techniques.

Theory

Sound waves in water

A sound wave propagating underwater consists of alternating compressions and rarefactions of the water. These compressions and rarefactions are detected by a receiver, such as the human ear or a hydrophone, as changes in pressure. These waves may be man-made or naturally generated.

Speed of sound, density and impedance

The speed of sound refers to the longitudinal motion of wavefronts and is related to frequency (f) and wavelength(λ) by:-

   c = fλ

This is different from the particle velocity (u) which refers to the motion of molecules in the medium due to the sound. For a plane wave the pressure is related to the fluid density (ρ) and sound speed by :-

  p = (ρc)u

The term in brackets is known as the characteristic acoustic impedance. The acoustic power (energy per second) crossing unit area is known as the intensity of the wave and for a plane wave the average intensity (I) is given by :-

  I = q²/(ρc),

where q is the RMS acoustic pressure.

At 1 kHz the wavelength is about 1.5m. Sometimes the term "sound velocity" is used but this is incorrect as the quantity is a scalar.

The large impedance contrast between air and water (the ratio is about 3600) and the scale of surface roughness means that the sea surface behaves as an almost perfect reflector of sound at frequencies below 1 kHz. Sound speed in water exceeds that in air by a factor of 4.4 and the density ratio is about 820.

Source Levels

The source level of a sound generator is traditionally defined as :-

  SL = 10 log (Isr/Iref)

where Isr is the acoustic intensity in the far-field of the projector, scaled to a standard distance of 1 m, and Iref is a reference intensity, equal to that of a plane wave whose RMS pressure is 1 μPa.

An alternative definition is possible in terms of pressure instead of intensity:

  SL = 20 log (psr/pref)

where psr is the RMS acoustic pressure in the far-field of the projector, scaled to a standard distance of 1 m, and pref is a reference pressue, equal to 1 μPa.

Notice that these two definitions are equivalent because Isr and psr² are related by a constant factor equal to the impedance (ρc) of water. The same factor appears in the ratio of Iref to pref² and therefore cancels.

Absorption of sound

Absorption of low frequency sound is also very weak. (see Technical Guides - Calculation of absorption of sound in seawater for an on-line calculator). The main cause of sound attenuation in fresh water, and at high frequency in sea water (above 100 kHz) is viscosity. Important additional contributions at lower frequency in seawater are associated with the ionic relaxation of boric acid (up to c. 10 kHz) and magnesium sulphate (up to c. 100 kHz).

Sound may be absorbed by losses at the fluid boundaries. Near the surface of the sea losses can occur in a bubble layer or in ice, while at the bottom sound can penetrate into the sediment and be absorbed.

Sound Reflection and Scattering

Boundary interactions

Both the water surface and bottom are reflecting and scattering boundaries. For a perfectly flat surface, the large impedance difference between air and water creates a nearly perfect reflector. The sound propagation in this case was worked out by Rayleigh. The sea-air surface can be described as having an amplitude reflection coefficient of very nearly -1, with the negative sign signifying a 180 degree phase change. Roughness causes the surface to act as a scatterer. Thus, the rough surface reflects some of the sound in a coherent manner, obeying the law of equal reflection and incidence angles, and some incoherently, scattering a proportion of the incident energy in all directions. The amplitude of the coherent reflection coefficient of an irregular surface can be shown to be given by $R=e^{-BkHsinA}$, where k is the wavenumber of the sound, H is the wave height, and A the grazing angle. The parameter B is a constant that depends on the surface wave spectrum and the distribution of near surface bubbles. The bubbles can also absorb some of the incident and scatter sound.

The acoustic impedance mismatch between water and the bottom is generally much less than at the surface and is more complex. It depends on the bottom material types and depth of the layers. Theories have been developed for predicting the sound propagation in the bottom in this case, for example by Biot .

At Target

The reflection of sound at a target whose dimensions are large compared with the acoustic wavelength depends on its size and shape as well as the impedance of the target relative to that of water. Formulae have been developed for the target strength of various simple shapes as a function of angle of sound incidence. More complex shapes may be approximated by combining these simple ones.

Propagation of sound

Underwater acoustic propagation is a function of many factors. In general it leads to a propagation loss, though in some circumstances a gain can be obtained due to focussing. Propagation loss is a quantitative measure of the reduction in sound intensity between two points, normally the sound source and a distant receiver. If Is is the intensity of the source referred to a point 1m from its acoustic centre and Ir is the intensity at the receiver, then the propagation loss is :-

  PL = 10 log (Is/Ir)

At short range the propagation loss is dominated by spreading while at long range it is dominated by absorption and/or scattering losses.

Propagation loss modelling

The propagation of sound through water is described by the wave equation, with appropriate boundary conditions. A number of models have been developed to simplify propagation calculations. These models include ray theory, normal mode solutions, and parabolic equation simplifications of the wave equation. Each set of solutions is generally valid and computationally efficient in a limited frequency and range regime, and may involve other limits as well. Ray theory is more appropriate at short range and high frequency, while the other solutions function better at long range and low frequency. Various empirical formulae have also been derived from measurements that are useful approximations.

Effects of Sound Speed Gradients

The direction of sound propagation is determined by the sound speed gradients in the water. Refraction variation with angle leads to spreading loss. In the sea the vertical gradients are generally much larger than the horizontal ones. These facts, combined with a tendency for increasing sound speed with increasing depth due to the increasing pressure in the deep sea reverses the sound speed gradient in the thermocline creating an efficient waveguide at the depth corresponding to the minimum sound speed.

Deep Sound Channel

At equatorial and temperate latitudes in the ocean the surface temperature is high enough to reverse the pressure effect, such that a sound speed minimum occurs at depth of a few hundred metres. The presence of this minimum creates a special channel known as Deep Sound Channel, previously known as the SOFAR (sound fixing and ranging) channel, permitting guided propagation of underwater sound for thousands of kilometres without interaction with the sea surface or the seabed.

Convergence Zone

Another phenomenon in the deep sea is the formation of sound focussing areas known as Convergence Zones. In this case sound is refracted downward from a near-surface source and then back up again. The horizontal distance from the source at which this occurs depends on the positive and negative sound speed gradients.

Bottom Bounce

In this propagation path sound from a near-surface source travels downward at a relatively steep angle and is reflected from the bottom to a near-surface receiver. Refraction in this case is less important but the bottom type is critical.

Reliable Acoustic Path

This is the case where there is a bottom mounted source in deep water with a shallow receiver. The propagation path is equivalent to the second half of of the Convergence Zone propagation.

Surface Duct

This can occur in both deep and moderately shallow water when there is upward refraction. Propagation is by repeated sound bounces off the surface.

Shallow Water Propagation

In this case refraction plays only a small part in the propagation loss as sound travels by repeated interaction with both the surface and bottom.

Shadow Zones and Caustics

The sound speed profile may cause regions of low sound intensity called "Shadow Zones" and regions of high intensity called "Caustics". These may be found by ray tracing methods.

Reverberation

Transient sounds result in a decaying background that can be of much larger duration than the original transient signal. This background is known as reverberation. For an acoustic signal to be detected easily, it must exceed the reverberation level as well as the background noise level. This reverberation is due to the volume and boundary scattering of the water.

Doppler Shift

This can be observed in active systems (particularly narrow band ones) and in narrowband passive systems (on lines of known frequency). For active systems the change in frequency is 0.69 Hz per knot per kHz and half this for passive systems as propagation is only one way. The shift is upward for an approaching target.

Sound Fluctuations

Though acoustic propagation modelling generally predicts a constant received sound level, in practice there are both temporal and spatial fluctuations. These may be due to both small and large scale environmental phenomena. These can include sound speed profile fine structure and frontal zones as well as internal waves. Because in general there are multiple propagation paths between a source and receiver, small phase changes in the interference pattern between these paths can lead to large fluctuations in sound intensity.

Non-linearity

In water, especially with air bubbles, the change in density due to a change in pressure is not exactly linearly proportional. As a consequence for a sinusoidal wave input additional harmonic and subharmonic frequencies are generated. When two sinusoids are input sum and difference frequencies are generated. The conversion process is greater at high source levels than small ones. Because of the non-linearity there is a dependence of sound speed on the pressure amplitude so that large changes travel faster than small ones. Thus a sinusoidal waveform gradually becomes a sawtooth one with a steep rise and a gradual tail. Use is made of this phenomenon in parametric sonar and theories have been developed to account for this, eg by Westerfield.

Measurements

Sound in water is measured using a hydrophone, which is the underwater equivalent of a microphone. A hydrophone measures pressure fluctuations, and these are usually converted to sound pressure level (SPL), which is a logarithmic measure of the mean square acoustic pressure.

Measurements are usually reported in one of three forms :-

• RMS acoustic pressure in micropascals (or dB re 1 μPa)
• RMS acoustic pressure in a specified bandwidth, usually octaves or thirds of octave (dB re 1 μPa)
• spectral density (mean square pressure per unit bandwidth) in micropascals per hertz (dB re 1 μPa²/Hz)

Comparison with airborne sound levels

As with airborne sound, sound pressure level underwater is usually reported in units of decibels, but there are some important differences that make it difficult (and often inappropriate) to compare SPL in water with SPL in air. These differences include: * difference in reference pressure: 1 μPa (one micropascal, or one millionth of a pascal) instead of 20 μPa.

• difference in interpretation: there are two schools of thought, one maintaining that pressures should be compared directly, and that the other that one should first convert to the intensity of an equivalent plane wave.
• difference in hearing sensitivity: any comparison with (A-weighted) sound in air needs to take into account the differences in hearing sensitivity, either of a human diver or other animal.

Sound speed

Approximate values for fresh water and seawater, respectively, at atmospheric pressure are 1450 and 1500 m/s for the sound speed, and 1000 and 1030 kg/m³ for the density. The speed of sound in water increases with increasing pressure, temperature and salinity. On-line calculators can be found at Technical Guides - Speed of Sound in Sea-Water and Technical Guides - Speed of Sound in Pure Water.

Absorption

Many measurements have been made of sound absorption in lakes and the ocean ) and magnesium sulphate (up to c. 100 kHz) (see Technical Guides - Calculation of absorption of sound in seawater for an on-line calculator).

Ambient noise

Measurement of acoustic signals are possible if their amplitude exceeds a minimum threshold, determined partly by the signal processing used and partly by the level of background noise. Ambient noise is that part of the received noise that is independent of the source, receiver and platform characteristics. This it excludes reverberation and towing noise for example.

The background noise present in the ocean, or ambient noise, has many different sources and varies with location and frequency. At the lowest frequencies, from about 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz, ocean turbulence and microseisms are the primary contributors to the noise background. Typical noise spectrum levels decrease with increasing frequency from about 140 dB re 1 μPa²/Hz at 1 Hz to about 30 dB re 1 μPa²/Hz at 100 kHz. Distant ship traffic is one of the dominant noise sources in most areas for frequencies of around 100 Hz, while wind-induced surface noise is the main source between 1 kHz and 30 kHz. At very high frequencies, above 100 kHz, thermal noise of water molecules begins to dominate. The thermal noise spectral level at 100 kHz is 25 dB re 1 μPa²/Hz. The spectral density of thermal noise increases by 20 dB per decade (approximately 6 dB per octave).

Transient sound sources also contribute to ambient noise. These can include intermittent geological activity, such as earthquakes and underwater volcanoes, rainfall on the surface, and biological activity. Biological sources include cetaceans (especially blue, fin and sperm whales), certain types of fish, and snapping shrimp.

Reverberation

Many measurements have been made of sea surface, bottom and volume reverberation. Empirical models have sometimes been derived from these. A commonly used expression for the band 0.4 to 6.4 kHz is that by Chapman and Harris It is found that a sinusoidal waveform is spread in frequency due to the surface motion. For bottom reverberation a Lambert's Law is found often to apply approximately, for example see Mackenzie. Volume reverberation is usually found to occur mainly in layers, which change depth with the time of day, eg see Chapman and Marshall . The under-surface of ice can produce strong reverberation when it is rough, see for example Milne .

Bottom Loss

Bottom loss has been measured as a function of grazing angle for many frequencies in various locations, for example those by the US Marine Geophysical Survey . The loss depends on the sound speed in the bottom (which is affected by gradients and layering) and by roughness. Graphs have been produced for the loss to be expected in particular circumstances.

Underwater hearing

Hearing sensitivity

The lowest audible SPL for a human diver with normal hearing is about 67 dB re 1 μPa, with greatest sensitivity occurring at frequencies around 1 kHz . Dolphins and other toothed whales are renowned for their acute hearing sensitivity, especially in the frequency range 5 to 50 kHz . Several species have hearing thresholds between 30 and 50 dB re 1 μPa in this frequency range. For example the hearing threshold of the killer whale occurs at an RMS acoustic pressure of 0.02 mPa (and frequency 15 kHz), corresponding to an SPL threshold of 26 dB re 1 μPa. By comparison the most sensitive fish is the soldier fish, whose threshold is 0.32 mPa (50 dB re 1 μPa) at 1.3 kHz, whereas the lobster has a hearing threshold of 1.26 Pa at 70 Hz (122 dB re 1 μPa).

Safety thresholds

High levels of underwater sound create a potential hazard to marine and amphibious animals as well as to human divers . Guidelines for exposure of human divers and marine mammals to underwater sound are reported by the SOLMAR project of the NATO Undersea Research Centre. (Available from [1]). Human divers exposed to SPL above 154 dB re 1 μPa in the frequency range 0.6 to 2.5 kHz are reported to experience changes in their heart rate or breathing frequency.

Applications of underwater acoustics

Sonar

Main article: Sonar

Underwater acoustics is used in the design and performance prediction of active and passive sonar systems. Propagation loss and ambient noise and reverberation levels in particular must be accounted for.

Underwater communication

The need for underwater acoustic telemetry exists in applications such as data harvesting for environmental monitoring, communication with and between manned and unmanned underwater vehicles, transmission of diver speech, etc. Acoustic communications form an active field of research with significant challenges to overcome, especially in horizontal, shallow-water channels. Compared with radio telecommunications, the available bandwidth is reduced by several orders of magnitude. Moreover, the low speed of sound causes multipath propagation to stretch over time delay intervals of tens or hundreds of milliseconds, as well as significant Doppler shifts and spreading. Often acoustic communication systems are not limited by noise, but by reverberation and time variability beyond the capability of receiver algorithms. The fidelity of underwater communication links can be greatly improved by the use of hydrophone arrays, which allow processing techniques such as adaptive beamforming and diversity combining.

Seismic exploration

Seismic exploration involves the use of low frequency sound to probe deep into the seabed. Sound sources used include airguns, vibroseis and explosives.

Main article: Reflection seismology

Weather observation

Acoustic sensors can be used to monitor the sound made by wind and precipitation. For example, an acoustic rain gauge is described by Nystuen. Lightning strikes can also be detected.

Oceanography

Acoustic thermometry of ocean climate (ATOC) uses low frequency sound to measure the global ocean temperature. Large scale ocean features can be detected by acoustic tomography. Bottom characteristics can be measured by sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiling.

Marine biology

The study of marine life, from microplankton to the blue whale, uses bioacoustics.

Particle physics

Acoustic detection of ultra-high energy neutrinos [2]