Course and Learning Outcome(s)

[CO1]
[
] Student is able to explain
p
the concept
p of sound
underwater, SONAR system, depth sounding, and
bathymetric mapping.
[LO01] Explain generation of sound underwater, Sound Level,
intensity unit,
intensity,
unit acoustic wave properties,
properties pulse (length
(length, repetition)
repetition),
particle celerity, impedance.
[LO02] Explain propagation of sound underwater,
underwater propagation
mechanism, Transmission Loss, role of water properties, active
SONAR equation (NL/RL dominated).

Generation of sound
S
Sounds
d are mechanically
h i ll generated
dd
due to di
disturbance
b
iin the
h
medium
Pressure differences
Disturbance in a medium is considered as pressure
differences/gradient working at a unit area
It compresses medium particles to a side that will be followed by
decompression in the other side

Sound or acoustic pressure (p)

Expressed
E
d as N/
N/m2 = Pa
P
p0
p0
+pp
p0p

p0+p

dilation

compression

p0

pp = p p0
with
p = pressure difference = disturbance
p
= instantaneous pressure
p0 = hydrostatic pressure (pressure without disturbance)

In one-dimensional axis
dilation
(decompression)
compression

+p

p0

Natural sound

1 = no sound
2 = audible sound
3 = hydrostatic pressure
4 = sound pressure

Particle displacement
D
Due to sound
d pressure ((p),
) displacement
di l
off medium
di
particle
i l () is
i
expressed as*:

= /2f
with = particle velocity

*medium produces specific vibration due to a given sound pressure and frequency

Sound speed and particle velocity

S
Sound
d speed
d ((c)) is
i the
h celerity
l i off propagation
i off acoustic
i wave
through medium

Particle velocity () is motion of molecules in the medium due to

sound generation and depends on the applied pressure (p) and
medium density ():
p = c
with = 2f, then:
p = c2f

Acoustic impedance (Za)

A medium
di
produces
d
specific
ifi vibration
ib i (i
(i.e. particle
i l di
displacement,
l
particle velocity) due to applied pressure at a given frequency.
Za relates p and

Sound or acoustics intensity (I)

Sound
S
d or acoustic
i power ((P)) working
ki on a unit
i area ((A))

P
A

P is directly proportional to p2

Note:

Sound Pressure Level (SPL)

SPL iis also
l termed
d as Sound
S
d Level
L
l (L)
( )

p2
L 10 log10 2
p
reff

pref = 1Pa

commonly written as just 20log(p) dB

Use of dB
A
Acoustic
i power ranges ffrom a very tiny
i llevell to a very h
huge one
Use of large numbers are impractical
Instead of using
gp
power level,, dB ((deciBel)) unit is used

dB is a relative power of a given intensity with respect to a

reference (in water pref = 1Pa)

Propagation
P
Propagation
i
Since the medium is elastic, the side experiencing compression
balances it and transfers the compressing
p
g force to the other side
and so on and sofort. Consecutive compression and dilation
propagates energy to all directions.

Speed of propagation (c)

The speed of acoustic wave propagation is mainly governed by
medium density.

 Propagation
P
i speed
d ((c)) iin the
h medium
di
iis governed
db
by
Medium density ()
In practical sense, higher density of medium facilitate a more
efficient transfer of energy
Elasticity modulus (E)
This relates to the so-called medium compressibility

c = (E/)0.5
p = EV/V

Sound experiences loss

S
Sound
d iintensity
i llosses with
i h iincreasing
i di
distance ffrom sources
Geometrical spreading and attenuation are the primary
mechanism of loss acoustic energy
gy

source
increasing distance from source

ensonified
e
so ed
surface
20logR
SL

Loss mechanism
G
Geometrical
i l spreading
di
Acoustic energy experiences loss since the energy is spread to
all directions

Attenuation
Through
g out the medium, the p
propagated
p g
acoustic energy
gy also
experiences loss. This is due to inter-particle collision and
relaxation of molecules in the water that converts acoustic
energy into other forms (e.g.
(e g heat)

Attenuation versus
frequency

Hydro-acoustic system
H
Hydro-acoustic
d
i system relies
li on transmission
i i off sound
d through
h
h
water
i.e. SONAR = SOund Navigation And Ranging active SONAR

Notes:
Passive system = listening for sound
Active system = making sound and listening to the echo

SONAR equation

SL

Sensor
S

Source Level (SL)

Detection Threshold (DT)

DT

DI

TL

NL

Medium

Noise Level (NL)

Transmission Loss (TL)
Reverberation Level (RL)

Source

Target Strength (TS)

RL

TS

Passive SONAR equation

Reverberation and noise

Si
Signall can be
b detected
d
d if iit iis stronger than
h the
h background
b k
d due
d
to reverberation and noise
noise is due to wind, wave, biological activity, and shipping
reverberation is backcattered sound from source
source, decaying
sources replicate

SIGNAL > BACKGROUND

Ambient noise

Target properties
Target
T
Strength
S
h (TS)

Active SONAR system

NL

DT

SL RL
DIT

TL

TL

NL

NL

DI
TS

NL

EL drops with increasing distance due to TL

Rn is range (R) when NL EL

NL domination above RL

Rr is range (R) when RL EL

RL domination above NL

Level

RL

EL
SL + DIT + TS = 2TL + RL

NL
Perform

Does Not Perform

Range

Level

EL
RL

SL + DIT + TS = 2TL + (NLDI)

NL

Perform

Does Not Perform

Range

Active SONAR equation

NL d
dominated
i
d
SL + DIT + TS 2TL ((NLDI)) = DT

RL dominated
SL + DIT + TS 2TL RL = DT
Note that in RL dominated equation, NLDI is no longer
appropriate and replaced by RL