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This book presents a comprehensive overview of hydroacoustics and describes the physical basis of acoustic processes observed in the sea. In addition, it discusses the basic concepts and provides simplified models of sound propagation and acoustic phenomena at the boundary between environments. Lastly, the book examines in detail a number of applications of ocean acoustics and methods. The ocean is the last reserve of natural resources. It is also an essential element in the biosphere, ensuring the latter's balance, and plays a pivotal role in the Earth's climate system and global warming. Consequently, studying the ocean is one of humankind's most critical scientific tasks, but penetrating its mysteries is no mean feat. Acoustics (hydroacoustics) is one of the most powerful tools for examining the water layer and beyond, since sound waves are the only type of radiation that can propagate over distances of hundreds and even thousands of kilometers in the ocean.This unique resource appeals to specialists working in the fields of ocean and atmosphere physics, students and postgraduate students studying sea physics and oceanology, and anyone who is interested in the problems the ocean is currently facing.

As man turns his attention from the overcrowded continents of this planet and explores the spaciousness of the ocean, the applications of ocean acoustics become increasingly numerous and important. This book pro- vides an up-to-date introduction to the theory of sound propagation in the ocean, with much new material having been added throughout the second edition. It includes both ray and wave treatments and considerable attention is paid to stochastic problems such as the scattering of sound at rough surfaces and random inhomogeneties. An introductory chapter that discusses the basic experimental data complements the following theoretical chapters.

Recent advances in the power of inversion methods, the accuracy of acoustic field prediction codes, and the speed of digital computers have made the full field inversion of ocean and seismic parameters on a large scale a practical possibility. These methods exploit amplitude and phase information detected on hydrophone/geophone arrays, thereby extending traditional inversion schemes based on time of flight measurements. Full field inversion methods provide environmental information by minimising the mismatch between measured and predicted acoustic fields through a global search of possible environmental parameters. Full Field Inversion Methods in Ocean and Seismo-Acoustics is the formal record of a conference held in Italy in June 1994, sponsored by NATO SACLANT Undersea Research Centre. It includes papers by NATO specialists and others. Topics covered include: · speed and accuracy of acoustic field prediction codes · signal processing strategies · global inversion algorithms · search spaces of environmental parameters · environmental stochastic limitations · special purpose computer architectures · measurement geometries · source and receiving sensor technologies.

The efficacy of sound to penetrate the seas made acoustic systems in the past century the leading tools for sensing objects in and measuring properties of the seas. For over sixty years The United States Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been a major sponsor of undersea research and development at universities, national laboratories, and industrial organizations. App- priately ONR is the sponsor of this monograph series. The intent of the series is to summarize recent accomplishments in, and to outline perspectives for, underwater acoustics in specific fields of research. The general field has escalated in importance and spread broadly with ri- ness and depth of understanding. It has also, quite naturally, become more specialized. The goal of this series is to present monographs that critically review both past and recent accomplishments in order to address the sho- comings in present understanding. In this way, these works will bridge the gaps in understanding among the specialists and favorably color the direction of new research and development. Each monograph is intended to be a stand-alone advanced contribution to the field. We trust that the reader will also find that each is a critical introduction to related specialized topics of interest as well.

This volume contains the collection of papers from the second workshop on Experimental Acoustic Inversion Techniques for Exploration of the Shallow Water Environment. Acoustic techniques provide the most effective means for remote sensing of ocean and sea floor processes, and for probing the structure beneath the sea floor. No other energy propagates as efficiently in the ocean: radio waves and visible light are severely limited in range because the ocean is a highly conductive medium. However, sound from breaking waves and coastal shipping can be heard throughout the ocean, and marine mammals communicate acoustically over basin scale distances. The papers in this book indicate a high level of research interest that has generated significant progress in development and application of experimental acoustic inversion techniques. The applications span a broad scope in geosciences, from geophysical, biological and even geochemical research. The list includes: estimation of geotechnical properties of sea bed materials; navigation and mapping of the sea floor; fisheries, aquaculture and sea bed habitat assessment; monitoring of marine mammals; sediment transport; and investigation of natural geohazards in marine sediments. Audience This book is primarily intended for physicists and engineers working in underwater acoustics and oceanic engineering. It will also be of interest to marine biologists, geophysicists and oceanographers as potential users of the methodologies and techniques described in the book contributions.

Sound Images of the Ocean is the first book of its kind which offers a comprehensive overview of acoustic imaging applications in the various fields of marine research, utilization, surveillance, and protection. The book employs 400 sound images of the sea floor and of processes in the sea volume, contributed by more than 120 marine experts from 22 nations. Written to be accessible to professionals in diverse related fields, the concise accompanying explanations of the complex relationships revealed by the images strive to condense the results to an essential'message.'The book develops an interdisciplinary understanding of underwater acoustics and its diagnostic capabilities in order to visualize in detail the two thirds of the surface of the globe otherwise hidden from view. The high resolution but ship dependent acoustic imagery is compared with its satellite dependent counterpart, the large scale sea floor imagery by scanning the gravity deformed sea surface.

Fundamentals of Marine Acoustics