During the Acoustic Engineering Test ͑AET͒ of the Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate ͑ATOC͒ program, acoustic signals were transmitted from a broadband source with 75-Hz center frequency to a 700-m-long vertical array of 20 hydrophones at a distance of 3252 km; receptions occurred over a period of six days. Each received pulse showed early identifiable timefronts, followed by about 2 s of highly variable energy. For the identifiable timefronts, observations of travel-time variance, average pulse shape, and the probability density function ͑PDF͒ of intensity are presented, and calculations of internal-wave contributions to those fluctuations are compared to the observations. Individual timefronts have rms travel time fluctuations of 11 to 19 ms, with time scales of less than 2 h. The pulse time spreads are between 0 and 5.3 ms rms, which suggest that internal-wave-induced travel-time biases are of the same magnitude. The PDFs of intensity for individual ray arrivals are compared to log-normal and exponential distributions. The observed PDFs are closer to the log-normal distribution, and variances of log intensity are between (3.1 dB) 2 ͑with a scintillation index of 0.74͒ for late-arriving timefronts and (2.0 dB) 2 ͑with a scintillation index of 0.2͒ for the earliest timefronts. Fluctuations of the pulse termination time of the transmissions are observed to be 22 ms rms. The intensity PDF of nonidentified peaks in the pulse crescendo are closer to a log-normal distribution than an exponential distribution, but a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test rejects both distributions. The variance of the nonidentified peaks is (3.5 dB) 2 and the scintillation index is 0.92. As a group, the observations suggest that the propagation is on the border of the unsaturated and partially saturated regimes. After improving the specification of the ray weighting function, predictions of travel-time variance using the Garrett-Munk ͑GM͒ internal-wave spectrum at one-half the reference energy are in good agreement with the observations, and the one-half GM energy level compares well with XBT data taken along the transmission path. Predictions of pulse spread and wave propagation regime are in strong disagreement with the observations. Pulse time spread estimates are nearly two orders of magnitude too large, and ⌳-⌽ methods for predicting the wave propagation regime predict full saturation.

Standard adaptive beamforming or matched field processing requires accurate replica fields finely gridded over the search parameter space for localization with sidelobe control. Multiple constraints to the maximum likelihood method (MLM) technique are introduced in order to construct a beamformer (MCM) more tolerant to environmental mismatch of a deterministic nature. The result is a plane-wave or matched field beamformer that accommodates some mismatch in the environment while still suppressing sidelobes. This beamformer maintains its localization and sidelobe control over a coarser grid of the search parameter space than the standard MLM beamformer which requires an extremely fine grid for localization and sidelobe control. Examples simulating the performance of the MCM beamformer for plane-wave and matched field processing for an Arctic environment are given.

The utility of combining geoid, gravity, and vertical gravity gradient measurements for delineation of causative mass anomalies is explained and compared with spatial and spectral methods for depth estimation. Depth rules for various source geometries are reviewed and new rules developed for geoid, gravity, and vertical gravity‐gradient data. Both spatial and frequency‐domain methods are discussed. Simple ratios of single observations of different data types (e.g., geoid, gravity, or vertical gravity gradient) are shown to provide information comparable to the traditional spatial and frequency analyses of one data type alone.

An active sonar system is used to image wide areas of the continental shelf environment by long-range echo sounding at low frequency. The bistatic system, deployed in the STRATAFORM area south of Long Island in April-May of 2001, imaged a large number of prominent clutter events over ranges spanning tens of kilometers in near real time. Roughly 3000 waveforms were transmitted into the water column. Wide-area acoustic images of the ocean environment were generated in near real time for each transmission. Between roughly 10 to more than 100 discrete and localized scatterers were registered for each image. This amounts to a total of at least 30000 scattering events that could be confused with those from submerged vehicles over the period of the experiment. Bathymetric relief in the STRATAFORM area is extremely benign, with slopes typically less than 0.5 degrees according to high resolution (30 m sampled) bathymetric data. Most of the clutter occurs in regions where the bathymetry is locally level and does not coregister with seafloor features. No statistically significant difference is found in the frequency of occurrence per unit area of repeatable clutter inside versus outside of areas occupied by subsurface river channels.

We examine statistical and directional properties of the ambient noise in the 10-100 Hz frequency band from the NPAL array. Marginal probability densities are estimated as well as mean square levels, skewness and kurtoses in third octave bands. The kurotoses are markedly different from Gaussian except when only distant shipping is present. Extremal levels reached approximately 150 dB re 1 micro Pa, suggesting levels 60dB greater than the mean ambient were common in the NPAL data sets. Generally, these were passing ships. We select four examples: i) quiescent noise, ii) nearby shipping, iii) whale vocalizations and iv) a micro earthquake for the vertical directional properties of the NPAL noise since they are representative of the phenomena encountered. We find there is modest broadband coherence for most of these cases in their occupancy band across the NPAL aperture. Narrowband coherence analysis from VLA to VLA was not successful due to ambiguities. Examples of localizing sources based upon this coherence are included. kw diagrams allow us to use data above the vertical aliasing frequency. Ducted propagation for both the quiescent and micro earthquake (T phase) are identified and the arrival angles of nearby shipping and whale vocalizations. MFP localizations were modestly successful for nearby sources, but long range ones could not be identified, most likely because of signal mismatch in the MFP replica.

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During the North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory Philippine Sea 2009 experiment, towed array receptions were made from a towed source as the two ships transited from a separation of several Convergence Zones through a Closest Point of Approach at 3 km. A combination of narrowband tones and broadband pulses were transmitted covering the frequency band 79-535 Hz. The received energy arrives from two general paths-direct path and bottom bounce. Bearing-time records of the narrowband arrivals at times show a 35 spread in the angle of arrival of the bottom bounce energy. Doppler processing of the tones shows significant frequency spread of the bottom bounce energy. Two-dimensional modeling using measured bathymetry, a geoacoustic parameterization based upon the geological record, and measured sound-speed field was performed. Inclusion of the effects of seafloor roughness and surface waves shows that in-plane scattering from rough interfaces can explain much of the observed spread in the arrivals. Evidence of out-of-plane scattering does exist, however, at short ranges. The amount of out-of-plane scattering is best observed in the broadband impulsebeam response analysis, which in-plane surface roughness modeling cannot explain.

Abstract. As part of the Office of Naval Research Sea Ice Mechanics Initiative, a real-time monitoring and processing program for acoustic emission from ice fracture and ridgebuilding events was established. A wide-aperture, horizontal hydrophone array was used in combination with a vertical line array to record the acoustic signals, which were then passed through a focused beam former for real-time generation of ice seismicity maps. A number of rapidly deployable geophone arrays were used in active zones to measure the acoustic emissions in the near field for detailed seismic event analysis. During one such deployment, a highly regular transient arrival structure was recorded on all sensors located near a major lead, with a transient appearing every 5 s. These data have been processed using frequency-wavenumber analysis to show that the transients correspond to "edge waves" propagating forth and back along the edges of the lead, with the probable source being a "stick-slip" mechanical phenomenon toward the ends of the lead.