Interference of Acoustic Signals Due to Internal Waves in Shallow Water

To investigate the characteristics of internal waves (IWs) and their effects on acoustic wave propagation, a series of sea experiment were performed in the east coast of Donghae city, Korea in 1997 and 1998 where the water depth varies between 130 and 140 m. Thermistor strings were deployed to measure water temperatures simultaneously at 9 depths. CW source signals with the frequencies of 250,670 and 1000 Hz were received by an array of 15 hydrophones. Through the Wavelet transform analysis, the IWs are characterized as having typical periods of 2-17 min and duration of 1-2 hours. The IWs exist in a group of periods rather than in one period. Underwater acoustic signals also show obvious energy peaks in the periods of less than 12 min. Consistency in the periods of the two physical processes implies that acoustic waves react to the IWs through some mechanisms like mode interference and travel time fluctuation. Based on the thermistor string data, mode arriving structures are analyzed. As thermocline depth varies with time, it may cause travel time difference as much as 4-10 ms between mode 1 and 2 over 10 km range. This travel time difference causes interference among modes and thus fluctuation from range-independent stratified ocean structure. In real situations, however, there exist additional spatial variation of IWs. Model simulations with all modes and simple IWs show clear responses of acoustic signals to the IWs, i.e., fluctuations of amplitude and phase.