Acoustical oceanography

Acoustical oceanography is the use of underwater sound to study the sea, its boundaries and its contents.

A 38 kHz hydroacoustic tow fin used to conduct acoustic surveys by NOAA. Alaska, Southeast.

History

This section requires expansion.

The earliest and most widespread use of sound and sonar technology to study the properties of the sea is the use of an echo sounder to measure water depth. The development of high resolution sonar in the second half of the 20th century made it possible to not just detect underwater objects but to classify them and even image them.

Important contributions to acoustical oceanography have been made by:

• Walter Munk
• Hank Medwin
• John L Spiesberger
• C C Leroy
• David E Weston
• D. Van Holliday
• Charles Greenlaw

Theory

This section requires expansion.

See Clay and Medwin^[1]

Measurements

This section requires expansion.

See Clay and Medwin^[1]

Applications

Applications of acoustical oceanography include:

• fish population surveys
• classification of fish species and other biota
• rain rate measurement
• wind speed measurement
• water depth measurement
• seabed classification
• ocean acoustic tomography
• global thermometry
• monitoring of ocean-atmospheric gas exchange

Depth sounding

This section requires expansion.

Seabed classification

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Marine biology

This section requires expansion.

The study of marine life, from microplankton to the blue whale, uses bioacoustics.^[2]

References

v d e Hydroacoustics Sonar Active acoustics Baffles (submarine) Bistatic sonar Echo sounding Fessenden oscillator GLORIA sidescan sonar Multibeam echosounder Passive acoustics Scientific echosounder Side-scan sonar Sonar beamforming Sonobuoy Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Synthetic aperture sonar Towed array sonar Upward looking sonar Ocean acoustics Acoustic network Acoustic release Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Acoustic Seabed Classification Acoustical oceanography Hydrophone Long baseline acoustic positioning system Ocean acoustic tomography Short baseline acoustic positioning system Sofar bomb SOFAR channel Sound speed gradient Sound velocity probe Ultra-short baseline Underwater acoustics Underwater acoustic communication Underwater acoustic positioning system Acoustic ecology Acoustic survey in fishing Acoustic tag Animal echolocation Beached whale Fishfinder Fisheries acoustics Hearing range of marine mammals Marine mammals and sonar Whale song Related topics Acoustic signature Bioacoustics Biophony Ecoacoustics Geophysical MASINT Hydrographic survey Noise map Soundscape

Physical oceanography – Waves and Currents Waves Airy wave theory Ballantine Scale Boussinesq approximation Breaking wave Clapotis Cnoidal wave Cross sea Dispersion Infragravity waves Edge wave Equatorial waves Fetch Freak wave Gravity wave Internal wave Kelvin wave Luke's variational principle Mild-slope equation Radiation stress Rogue wave Rossby wave Rossby-gravity waves Sea state Seiche Significant wave height Sneaker wave Soliton Stokes boundary layer Stokes drift Surf wave Swells Tsunami Undertow Ursell number Wave base Wave–current interaction Wave height Wave power Wave setup Wave shoaling Wave radar Wave turbulence Waves and shallow water Shallow water equations Wind wave Wind wave model More... Circulation Atmospheric circulation Baroclinity Boundary current Coriolis effect Downwelling Eddy Ekman layer Ekman spiral Ekman transport El Niño-Southern Oscillation Geostrophic current Gulf Stream Halothermal circulation Humboldt Current Hydrothermal circulation Global circulation model Langmuir circulation Longshore drift Loop Current Maelstrom Ocean current Ocean dynamics Ocean gyre Rip current Thermohaline circulation Shutdown of thermohaline circulation Subsurface currents Sverdrup balance Whirlpool Upwelling GLODAP MOM POM WOCE More... Tides Amphidromic point Earth tide Head of tide Internal tide Lunitidal interval Perigean spring tide Rule of twelfths Slack water Spring/neap tide Tidal bore Tidal force Tidal power Tidal race Tidal range Tidal resonance Tide Tide gauge Tideline More...   Physical oceanography – Other Landforms Abyssal fan Abyssal plain Atoll Bathymetric chart Cold seep Continental margin Continental rise Continental shelf Contourite Hydrography Guyot Oceanic basin Oceanic plateau Oceanic trench Passive margin Seabed Seamount Submarine canyon Coastal geography More... Plate tectonics Black smoker Convergent boundary Divergent boundary Fracture zone Hydrothermal vent Marine geology Mid-ocean ridge Mohorovičić discontinuity Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis Oceanic crust Outer trench swell Ridge push Seafloor spreading Slab pull Slab suction Slab window Subduction Transform fault Volcanic arc More... Ocean zones Benthic Deep ocean water Deep sea Littoral Mesopelagic Oceanic zone Pelagic Photic Surf zone Sea level Current sea level rise Future sea level Sea-level curve DART GLOSS NOOS OSTM WGS Acoustics Ocean acoustic tomography Sofar bomb SOFAR channel Underwater acoustics Hydroacoustics Other Alvin Argo Benthic lander Color of water Marginal sea Mooring Ocean Ocean energy Ocean exploration Ocean observations Ocean pollution Ocean reanalysis Ocean surface topography Ocean thermal energy conversion Oceanography Pelagic sediments Sea surface microlayer Sea surface temperature Seawater Science On a Sphere Thermocline Underwater glider Water column World Ocean Atlas NODC More...

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