Properties of the Acoustic Vector Field in Underwater Waveguides

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the description and measurement of the underwater acoustic field, based on vector properties of acoustic particle velocity. The specific goal is to interpret vector sensor measurements in underwater waveguides, in particular those measurements made in littoral (shallow) waters. To that end, theoretical models, which include the effects of reflections from the waveguide boundaries, are developed for the acoustic intensity, i.e. the product of acoustic pressure and acoustic particle velocity. Vector properties of acoustic intensity are shown to correspond to a non-dimensional vector property of acoustic particle velocity, its degree of circularity, which describes the trajectory of particle motion. Both experimental measurements and simulations of this non-dimensional vector property are used to analyze characteristics of sound propagation in underwater waveguides. Two measurement techniques are utilized in the experiments described in this thesis. In the first, particle velocity is obtained indirectly by time integration of the measured pressure gradient between two closely spaced (with respect to an acoustic wavelength) conventional pressure sensitive hydrophones. This method was used in ocean experiments conducted with vertical line arrays of hydrophones. In the second technique, particle velocity is measured directly by time integration of the signal generated by an accelerometer. An additional pressure measurement from a co-located hydrophone forms what is known as a "combined sensor" in the Russian literature, which allows for estimation of the vector acoustic intensity. This method was utilized mainly in laboratory experiments.