An Acoustic Tomography Technique for Concurrently Observing the Structure of the Atmosphere and Water Bodies

Abstract

he opacity of water to radio waves means there are few, if any, techniques for remotely sensing it and the atmosphere concurrently. However, both these media are transparent to low-frequency sound (<300 Hz), which makes it possible to contemplate systems that take advantage of the natural integration along acoustic paths of signals propagating through both media. This paper proposes?and examines with theoretical analysis?a method that exploits the harmonics generated by the natural signature of a propeller-driven aircraft as it overflies an array of surface and underwater sensors. Correspondence of the projected and observed narrowband acoustic signals, which are monitored synchronously on board the aircraft and by both sensor sets, allows the exact travel time of detected rays to be related to a linear model of the constituent terms of sound speed. These observations may then be inverted using tomography to determine the inhomogeneous structures of both regions. As the signature of the aircraft comprises a series of harmonics between 50 Hz and 1 kHz, the horizontal detection limits of such a system may be up to a few hundred meters, depending on the depth of the sensors, roughness of the water surface, errors due to refraction, and magnitude of the sound field generated by the source aircraft. The approach would permit temperature, wind, and current velocity profiles to be observed both above and below the water?s surface.