Bottom loss variation of low-frequency sound wave in the Yellow Sea

Abstract

The sound wave in the sea propagates under the effect of water depth, sound speed structure, sea surface roughness, bottom roughness, and acoustic properties of bottom sediment. In shallow water, the bottom sediments are distributed very variously with place and the sound speed structure varying with time and space. In order to investigate the seasonal propagation characteristics of low-frequency sound wave in the Yellow Sea, propagation experiments were conducted along a track in the middle part of the Yellow Sea in spring, summer, and autumn. In this paper we consider seasonal variations of the sound speed profile and propagation loss based on the measurement results. Also we quantitatively investigate variation of bottom loss by dividing the propagation loss into three components: spreading loss, absorption loss, and bottom loss. As a result, the propagation losses measured in summer were larger than the losses in spring and autumn, and the propagation losses measured in autumn were smaller than the losses in spring. The spreading loss and the absorption loss did not show seasonal variations, but the bottom loss showed seasonal variations. So it was thought that the seasonal variation of the propagation loss was due to the seasonal change of the bottom loss and the seasonal variation of the bottom loss was due to the change of the sound speed profile by season.