High Frequency Acoustic Propagation and Modeling in Stratified Estuaries
Name
swanda-nic.swanda-sm-meche-2022-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
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8.65 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5cd2842c67809c7fae5f41b372b988ed
Author(s)
Swanda, Nicholas
Advisor(s)
Lavery, Andone C.
Date Issued
September 2022
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Acoustic propagation measurements are made in a highly variable and stratified estuary using high frequency transducers (120kHz) on tripods placed across the main channel of the river flow. The measurements are taken in the Connecticut River across several tidal cycles, when the flood tide causes a wedge of seawater to press up the river bed, beneath the fresh water, and then be eroded and pushed back out during the ebb. BELLHOP, implemented via Matlab, is a beam/ray tracing method and is used to model the acoustic propagation in this environment using collected temperature, salinity, and depth data. Multiple modeling comparisons are done over the period of three full tidal cycles, totaling a thousand separate modeling runs and compiled into a time series. Arrival times measurements from the transducer system were able to be accurately modeled, validating BELLHOP as a useful tool in modeling this very dynamic and challenging acoustic environment.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
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