R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

BasicAcousticTheory

Figure1:In1822DanielCollodenusedanunderwaterbelltocalculatethespeedofsoundunderwaterinLakeGeneva,
Switzerlandat1435m/Sec,whichisveryclosetorecentmeasurements.

1 Introduction
Withmultibeam,aswithanyechosounder,amainconcernis:soundinwater.Oncetheprojector
transmitstheacousticenergyintothewater,manyfactorsinfluencethatenergysvelocityand
coherence.Themajorinfluenceisthevelocityofsoundinwater.

1.1 SoundVelocity
Themajorinfluenceonthepropagationofacousticenergyisthesoundvelocityofthewater
column.Astheacousticpulsepassesthroughthewatercolumn,thevelocityofthewavefrontwill
varybasedonthesoundvelocity;thisiscalledrefraction.Ifthesoundvelocity,throughthewater
column,isnotaccountedforinthedatacollectionsoftwarethedepthswillbeinerror.Forthis
reason,soundvelocitycastsareanoftrepeatedroutineduringmultibeamsurvey.

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

Figure2:Conceptofrefractionduetodifferentsoundvelocitiesinthewatercolumn

Thevelocityofsoundinwatervariesbothhorizontallyandvertically.Itcannotbeassumedthatthe
velocityofsoundinthewatercolumnremainsconstantoverlargeareasorthroughoutthedayina
morelocalarea.Themaininfluencesonsoundvelocityare:Conductivity(salinity),Temperatureand
Depth(pressure).

1CchangeinTemperature
1pptchangeinSalinity
100mchangeinDepth(10atmspressure)

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=
=
=

4.0m/secchangeinvelocity
1.4m/secchangeinvelocity
1.7m/secchangeinvelocity

C.W.Brennan,ChiefHydrographicEngineerR2Sonic

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

Figure3:Soundvelocityprofile

1.1.1 Salinity
Generally,salinityrangesfrom3238partsperthousand(ppt)inoceanwater.Achangeinsalinity
willcreatedensitychanges,whichaffectthevelocityofsound.Asageneralrule,achangeinsalinity
ofonly1pptcancauseasoundvelocitychangeof1.4m/sec.Therearemanyinfluencesonthe
salinityconcentrationinseawater.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Evaporation
Precipitation
Freshwaterinfluxfromrivers
Tidaleffects(saltwedges)

1.1.2 Temperature
Temperatureisthemajorinfluenceonsoundvelocityinwater.A1Cchangeisequalto
approximatelya4m/secchangeinvelocity.Oncetheupperlayerispassed,thetemperature
normallydecreasesuntilpressurebecomesthemoredominatinginfluenceonthevelocityofsound,
whichisapproximatelyat1000metres.Thenormalinfluencesonthetemperaturecomponentof
soundvelocityinclude:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Solarheating
Nighttimecooling
Rain/runoff
Upwelling

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

1.1.3 RefractionErrors
Refractionerrorsoccurduetothewrongsoundvelocityprofilebeingappliedtothedata.Theerror
increasesawayfromnadirand,assuch,ismoreapparentintheouterbeams.Thevisualeffectis
thattheswathwillcurlup(smile)orcurldown(frown).Theactualrepresentationisthatthe
soundingsareeithertooshallowortoodeep.

Figure4:RefractionErrorindication

Atanangleof45in10metersofwater,a10meterspersecondvelocityerrorwillresultinadepth
errorontheorderof4.6cm.

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Convex(smileyface)=Soundvelocityprofileusedhigherthanrealprofile
Concave(frownface)=Soundvelocityprofileusedlowerthanrealprofile

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

1.2 TransmissionLosses
Thetransmissionofanacousticpulseisgenerallycalledaping.Whentheprojectorsendsoutthe
acousticpulsemanyfactorsoperateonthatpulseasitmovesthroughthewatercolumntothe
bottomandalsoonitsreturnupward.Themajorinfluenceofthewatercolumnsoundvelocity
characteristicswasdetailedabove;thisaffectsthespeedoftransmission(andreturn).Thereare
otherinfluencesthatwillaffectacousticenergyinwaterandthesearetransmissionlosses.
1.2.1 SpreadingLoss
Spreadinglossdoesnotrepresentalossofenergy,butreferstofactthatthepropagationofthe
acousticpulseissuchthattheenergyissimplyspreadoveraprogressivelylargersurfacearea,thus
reducingitsdensity.Spreadinglossisnotfrequencydependent.
1.2.1.1 SphericalSpreading
Sphericalspreadinglossisthedecreaseinthesourceleveliftherearenoboundaries(suchasthe
watersurfaceorseafloor)toinfluencetheacousticenergy;alloftheacousticenergyspreadsout
evenly,inalldirections,fromthesource.Thelossinintensityisproportionaltothesurfaceareaof
thesphere.Theintensitydecreasesastheinversesquareoftherangeforsphericalspreading.With
Sphericalspreading,thetransmissionlossisgivenas:TL=20log(R),whereRisrange

PointSource
ofAcoustic
Energy

Figure5:ConceptofSphericalSpreading

1.2.1.2 CylindricalSpreading
Inrealitytheacousticenergycannotpropagateinalldirectionsduetoboundariessuchasthesea
floorandthewatersurface;thisgiverisetoCylindricalSpreading.Cylindricalspreadingiswhenthe
acousticenergyencountersupperandlowerboundariesandistrappedwithintheseboundaries;
thesoundenergybeginstoradiatemorehorizontallyawayfromthesource.WithCylindrical
spreadingtheacousticenergyleveldecreasesmoreslowlythanwithSphericalspreading.With
Cylindricalspreading,thetransmissionlossisgivenas:TL=10log(R),whereRisrange.

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

Figure6:ConceptofCylindricalSpreading

1.2.2 Absorption
Absorptionisfrequencydependentandreferstotheconversionofacousticenergytoheatwhenit
strikeschemicallydistinctmoleculesinthewatercolumn.MagnesiumSulphateMgSO4
predominates,withBoricAcidB(OH)3playingamajorpartatlowerfrequencies.Temperatureisalso
aninfluenceonabsorption.Absorptionisoneofthekeyfactorsintheattenuationoftheacoustic
energybasedonfrequency;thehigherthefrequency,thegreatertheabsorption.Thehigherthe
sonaroperatingfrequency,themorerapidthevibration(orexcitement)oftheparticlesinthewater
andthisleadstothegreatertransferenceofacousticenergy;thus,theattenuationoftheacoustic
wave.Thisisthereasonwhylowerfrequenciesareusedtoobtaindeeperdata.At400kHz,the
normalseawaterabsorptionisapproximately100dB/km,whereasat200kHztheabsorptionis
approximately50dB/km.Thesearevaluesfornormalseawater(withasalinityof35ppt).Fresh
waterhaslittle,ifanysalinity(<0.5ppt),soabsorptionisconsiderablyless.
Thebelowtableandchartsillustratehowfrequency,watertemperature,andsalinityaffect
absorption

2009,R2SonicLLC

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

SeawaterAbsorptionValues:Salinity=35ppt,pH=8 1
dB/km
400kHz
Temp(C) 5 10 15 20
Depth(m)
50
97 100 111 130
100
96 100 110 128
150
96 99 110 128
200
95 99 109 127
250
95 98 109 126
300
95 98 108 125
MeanValue 96

99

25

154
153
152
151
150
149

46
46
46
45
45
45
400m 44
110 127 152

45

200kHz
10
15 20 25
56
55
55
55
54
54
53
55

68
67
66
66
66
65
64
66

80 89
79 88
78 88
78 87
77 86
77 86
76 84
78 87

FreshwaterAbsorptionValues:Salinity=0.5ppt,pH=7
dB/km
400kHz
Temp(C) 5 10 15 20
Depth(m)
50
65 55 46 39
100
65 54 46 38
150
65 54 45 38
200
65 54 45 38
250
65 54 45 38
300
64 54 45 38
MeanValue 65

54

45

38

200kHz
10
15 20 25

25

33
33
33
32
32
32

17
17
17
17
16
16

14
14
14
14
14
14

17

14

33

12
12
12
12
12
12
12

10
10
10
10
10
10
10

9
9
9
9
9
9
9

Table1:AbsorptionValuesforSeawaterandFreshwaterat400kHzand200kHz

Equationusedforcomputationisfrom:AinslieM.A.,McColmJ.G.,Asimplifiedformulaforviscousand
chemicalabsorptioninseawater,JournaloftheAcousticSocietyofAmerica,103(3),16711672asemployed
ontheNPLwebsite,opcit.

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

160
140

FrequencyandTemperatureInfluenceonSeawater
Absorption

120
AbsorptiondB/km

400kHz
100

200kHz

80
60
Mean valuesforwater
depthsfrom50metresto
300metres(400metres
for200kHz)

40
20
0
DegreesCelsuis

10

15

20

25

Graph1:SeawaterAbsorption(Salinity35ppt)

70

FrequencyandTemperatureInfluenceonFreshwater
Absorption

60

400kHz

AbsorptiondB/km

50

200kHz
40

Meanvaluesfor
waterdepths
from50metres
to300metres

30

(
20
10
0

DegreesCelsius

10

15

20

25

Graph2:FreshwaterAbsorption

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

SeawaterAbsorption db/km
Freq. 10C 15C 20C 25C
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390
400

55
57
59
61
63
65
67
69
71
73
75
78
80
82
85
87
90
92
95
98
100

67
69
71
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
91
93
95
97
99
102
104
106
109
111

80
82
85
88
91
94
96
99
101
104
106
108
111
113
115
118
120
122
125
127
129

89
94
97
101
105
109
113
116
120
123
126
129
132
135
138
141
143
146
149
152
154

Table2:OperatingFrequencywatertemperatureabsorption

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R2SonicLLCMultibeamTrainingBasicAcousticTheory

1.2.3 ReverberationandScattering
Theseaisnothomogenousinnature.Everythingfromsuspendeddustparticlestofish,fromthesea
surfacetotheseafloorwillscatter,thatisreradiate,theacousticenergy.Alloftheeffectsof
individualscatteringcanbetermedreverberation.Theeffectofreverberationistolessenthe
acousticenergyandthisleadstotransmissionlosses.
Reverberationisdividedintothreemainareas:seasurfacereverberation,bottomreverberation,
andvolumereverberation(thebodyofwaterthattheenergyispassingthrough).
Boththeseasurfaceandtheseabottomwillreflectandscattersound,thusaffectingthe
propagationofsound.Seasurfacescatteringisinfluencedbyhowroughtheseais(whichisrelated
towindvelocity)andalsothetrappedairbubblesinthenearsurfaceregion.Theseasurfaceisalso
agoodreflectorofacousticenergy;thiscanleadtosecondandeventertiarybottomreturnsasthe
bottomreturnacousticenergyisreflectedbytheseasurfaceandisthenreflectedoncemorebythe
seabottom.
Inthecaseoftheseafloor,thestrengthofthescatteringdependsonthetypeofbottom
(compositionandroughness),thegrazingangleoftheacousticpulseandtheoperatingfrequencyof
thesonar.
Thereisalsobottomabsorptionbasedontheseafloorterrainandcomposition.Bottomabsorption
isalsodependentontheoperatingfrequencyofthesonarandtheangleofincidence.Bottom
absorptionwillbegreaterforahigherfrequencyandlargeangleofincidence.Itismoreorless
intuitivethatamudbottomwillabsorbmoreoftheacousticenergythanarockybottom.Whenthe
acousticenergyisabsorbeditmeansthereislessthatwillbereflectedbacktotheSonic2024s
receivers.Thesurveyormustbeawareofthebottomcompositionasadjustmentscanbemadeto
theSonic2024operatingparameterstohelpcompensateforthebottomabsorption.
Inwaterswithalargesedimentload,thesuspendedparticleswillscatterthesoundwave,thus
leadingtotransmissionloss.Inthescatteringprocess,thereisalsoadegreeofenergythatitis
reflected(backscatter);thiscanbeacausefornoiseinthesonardata.Again,thesurveyorshould
beawareofthisconditionand,ifneedbe,changetheoperatingparametersoftheSonic2024.
Whendiscussingthechangingoftheoperatingparameters,itisgenerallyamatterofincreasing
transmitpowerorpulselengthtogetmoretotalpowerintothewater.Insomecircumstances,
increasingtheAbsorptionvaluewillallowthesystemtorapidlyincreasegaintocapturethe
reflectedenergythathasbeendissipatedbyseafloorabsorptionorscatteringinthewatercolumn.
Asnotedabovemanyoftheeffectsofabsorption,scattering,andbottomabsorptionarefrequency
dependent.WiththeSonic2024,theoperatorcanadjustthesonarfrequencytooptimisethe
systemforthesurveyconditions.Thiswilltakesometrialanderror;however,lowerfrequencies
tendtodobestinareasofabsorbentbottomandhighsedimentload(scatter).

2009,R2SonicLLC

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