Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications

Underwater sound propagation is very sensitive to geometric and environmental variations. The geometric variations are the motion of the source and/or receiver, while the environmental variations are due to surface motion and water column variations. In order to reduce the effects of these variation...

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Main Authors: Salman I. Siddiqui, Hefeng Dong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/9/2105
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author Salman I. Siddiqui
Hefeng Dong
author_facet Salman I. Siddiqui
Hefeng Dong
author_sort Salman I. Siddiqui
collection DOAJ
description Underwater sound propagation is very sensitive to geometric and environmental variations. The geometric variations are the motion of the source and/or receiver, while the environmental variations are due to surface motion and water column variations. In order to reduce the effects of these variations, it is necessary to understand their effects on sound propagation. In this paper, some water column variations are reported, and their effect on the underwater sound propagation is studied. These water column variations were observed during an experiment in the TrondheimFjord on 22 September 2016. Strong amplitude variations were observed in the channel impulse response during the experiment. The Doppler analysis was performed on the channel impulse response, which showed strong Doppler variations. The amplitude and Doppler variations suggested the presence of water column variations. To demonstrate the performance of the communication system, the time reversal combiner was implemented. The system performance was demonstrated by computing the mean squared error between the transmitted signal and the output of the combiner. The performance of the combiner degraded by ~2.5 dB in the presence of water column variations. Due to these variations, the amplitudes of the arrivals changed rapidly, which posed a great challenge for the time reversal combiner. These amplitude variations affected the focusing of the combiner and hence induced intersymbol interference and performance degradation. This work provides an insight into the effects of water column variations on underwater sound propagation and underwater acoustic communications.
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spelling doaj.art-8059c9bdcb7e49a697c2a74d9703d81d2022-12-22T02:58:42ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-05-01199210510.3390/s19092105s19092105Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic CommunicationsSalman I. Siddiqui0Hefeng Dong1Department of Electronic Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Electronic Systems, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, NorwayUnderwater sound propagation is very sensitive to geometric and environmental variations. The geometric variations are the motion of the source and/or receiver, while the environmental variations are due to surface motion and water column variations. In order to reduce the effects of these variations, it is necessary to understand their effects on sound propagation. In this paper, some water column variations are reported, and their effect on the underwater sound propagation is studied. These water column variations were observed during an experiment in the TrondheimFjord on 22 September 2016. Strong amplitude variations were observed in the channel impulse response during the experiment. The Doppler analysis was performed on the channel impulse response, which showed strong Doppler variations. The amplitude and Doppler variations suggested the presence of water column variations. To demonstrate the performance of the communication system, the time reversal combiner was implemented. The system performance was demonstrated by computing the mean squared error between the transmitted signal and the output of the combiner. The performance of the combiner degraded by ~2.5 dB in the presence of water column variations. Due to these variations, the amplitudes of the arrivals changed rapidly, which posed a great challenge for the time reversal combiner. These amplitude variations affected the focusing of the combiner and hence induced intersymbol interference and performance degradation. This work provides an insight into the effects of water column variations on underwater sound propagation and underwater acoustic communications.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/9/2105underwater sound propagationunderwater channel variabilityunderwater acoustic communications
spellingShingle Salman I. Siddiqui
Hefeng Dong
Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
Sensors
underwater sound propagation
underwater channel variability
underwater acoustic communications
title Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
title_full Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
title_fullStr Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
title_short Effects of Water Column Variations on Sound Propagation and Underwater Acoustic Communications
title_sort effects of water column variations on sound propagation and underwater acoustic communications
topic underwater sound propagation
underwater channel variability
underwater acoustic communications
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/9/2105
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