Experiments conducted in the marine test field at Sizihwan coastal area in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Abstract

A Marine Test Field (MTF) in the Sizihwan coastal area near Kaohsiung, Taiwan has been developed since the summer of 2006. It represents an effort on a long-term investment for the study of underwater acoustics in a veryshallow-water and/or harbor environment. The process for developing the MTF is first to analyze the marine environment through detailed survey and analysis, including the geographical, morphological, and geological properties of the seabed, followed by the prediction and analysis of the acoustic sound fields based upon the measured environmental data. A series of benchmarking experiments have been carried out since the summer of 2007, including acoustic transmission experiment in a very shallow water environment, underwater anti-intrusion experiment in an inner harbor area, and shallow water networking and communication experiment.The purpose of this paper is to report the results from the above-mentioned experiments, which demonstrated that the concepts of establishing an MTF in the Sizihwan Bay area is feasible and realizable. Furthermore, environmental sensing, monitoring and communication underwater have been a challenge for scientists who study the oceans. To facilitate advanced research in underwater wireless sensor network technology, we are currently in the process of developing underwater distributed networked system in the MTF. Figure 1. The geography in the vicinity of the Sizihwan sea area. Within the area, it houses the Kaohsiung Harbor and College of Marine Sciences of National Sun Yat-sen University, providing a unique environment for the study of marine sciences.