Seafloor investigation has long been a feature of not only seismology but also of acoustics. Indeed it was acoustics that produced depth sounders, giving us the first capability of producing both global and local maps of the seafloor. Subsequently, better instrumentation and techniques led to a clearer, more quantitative picture of the seabed itself, which stimulated new hypotheses such as seafloor spreading through the availability of more reliable data on sediment thickness over ocean basins and other bottom features. Geologists and geophysicists have used both acoustic and seismic methods to study the seabed by considering the propagation of signals arising from both natural seismic events and man-made impulsive sources. Although significant advances have been made in instrumentation, such as long towed geophysical arrays, ai r guns and ocean bot tom seismometers, the pic ture of the seafloor is still far from complete. Underwater acoustics concerns itself today with the phenomena of propagation and noise at frequencies and ranges that require an understanding of acoustic interaction at both of its boundaries, the sea surface and seafloor, over depths ranging from tens to thousands of meters. Much of the earlier higher frequency (>1 kHz) work included the characterization of the seafloor in regimes of reflection coefficients which were empirically derived from surveys. The results of these studies met with only limited success, confined as they were to those areas where survey data existed and lacking a physical understanding of the processes of reflection and scattering.

Recent advances in the power of inversion methods, the accuracy of acoustic field prediction codes, and the speed of digital computers have made the full field inversion of ocean and seismic parameters on a large scale a practical possibility. These methods exploit amplitude and phase information detected on hydrophone/geophone arrays, thereby extending traditional inversion schemes based on time of flight measurements. Full field inversion methods provide environmental information by minimising the mismatch between measured and predicted acoustic fields through a global search of possible environmental parameters. Full Field Inversion Methods in Ocean and Seismo-Acoustics is the formal record of a conference held in Italy in June 1994, sponsored by NATO SACLANT Undersea Research Centre. It includes papers by NATO specialists and others. Topics covered include: · speed and accuracy of acoustic field prediction codes · signal processing strategies · global inversion algorithms · search spaces of environmental parameters · environmental stochastic limitations · special purpose computer architectures · measurement geometries · source and receiving sensor technologies.

This 3-volume set contains contributions from different areas of Computational Acoustics. Covered are: - computational methods to solve acoustics problems (including aero-acoustics, seismo-acoustics, and ocean-acoustics) and, in general, wave propagation problems - computational aspects of the interface between aero-, seismo- and ocean-acoustics - new solution techniques that have been made possible with the advent of new computer architectures such as parallel computers, super (pipeline) computers, hypercubes, etc.

Senior level/graduate level text/reference presenting state-of-the- art numerical techniques to solve the wave equation in heterogeneous fluid-solid media. Numerical models have become standard research tools in acoustic laboratories, and thus computational acoustics is becoming an increasingly important branch of ocean acoustic science. The first edition of this successful book, written by the recognized leaders of the field, was the first to present a comprehensive and modern introduction to computational ocean acoustics accessible to students. This revision, with 100 additional pages, completely updates the material in the first edition and includes new models based on current research. It includes problems and solutions in every chapter, making the book more useful in teaching (the first edition had a separate solutions manual). The book is intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of acoustics, geology and geophysics, applied mathematics, ocean engineering or as a reference in computational methods courses, as well as professionals in these fields, particularly those working in government (especially Navy) and industry labs engaged in the development or use of propagating models.

In its relentless pursuit of further knowledge, science tends to compartmentalize. Over the years the pursuit of What might be called geophysical acoustics of the sea-surface has languished. This has occured even through there are well-developed and active research programs in underwater acoustics, ocean hydrodynamics, cloud and precipitation physics, and ice mechanics - to name a few - as well as a history of engineering expertise built on these scientific fields. It remained to create a convergence, a dialogue across disciplines, of mutual benefit. The central theme of the Lerici workshop, perhaps overly simplified, was 'What are the mechanisms causing ambient noise at the upper surface of the ocean?' What could hydrodynamicists contribute to a better understanding of breaking wave dynamics, bubble production, ocean wave dynamics, or near-surface turbulence for the benefit of the underwater acoustics community? What further insights could fluid dynamicists gain by including acoustic measurements in their repertoire of instrumentation? While every attendee will have his or her percep tions of details, it was universally agreed that a valuable step had been taken to bring together two mature disciplines and that significant co-operative studies would undoubtedly follow. The scope of the workshop was enlarged beyond its original intent to also include the question of ice-noise generation. The success of this decision can be seen in high quality of the presentations. the contribution of its disciples in the other workshop discussions and the heightened awareness and interest of we other novices.

This book gives a comprehensive, theoretical account of the wave-wave interaction process responsible for high acoustic noise levels, including: a geometric description of the interaction mechanism, which provides the basis for a full-wave analysis of the source process, the inclusion of both the monogeneous and inhomogeneous components of the wave-induced pressure field in the analytical description of the source, an examination of the relative contributions of the sum and difference-frequency components of the wave interaction process, the removal of the deep-water assumption of earlier analyses, and the development of an "exact" analytical expression which allows the source function of the wave-induced pressure field to be calculated over the whole frequency-wave number domain.

The oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface, and are critical components of Earth’s climate system. This new edition of Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, Six Volume Set summarizes the breadth of knowledge about them, providing revised, up to date entries as well coverage of new topics in the field. New and expanded sections include microbial ecology, high latitude systems and the cryosphere, climate and climate change, hydrothermal and cold seep systems. The structure of the work provides a modern presentation of the field, reflecting the input and different perspective of chemical, physical and biological oceanography, the specialized area of expertise of each of the three Editors-in-Chief. In this framework maximum attention has been devoted to making this an organic and unified reference. Represents a one-stop. organic information resource on the breadth of ocean science research Reflects the input and different perspective of chemical, physical and biological oceanography, the specialized area of expertise of each of the three Editors-in-Chief New and expanded sections include microbial ecology, high latitude systems and climate change Provides scientifically reliable information at a foundational level, making this work a resource for students as well as active researches

Underwater Acoustic Modeling and Simulation examines the translation of our physical understanding of sound in the sea into mathematical models that can simulate acoustic propagation, noise and reverberation in the ocean. These models are used in a variety of research and operational applications to predict and diagnose the performance of complex s

Shear waves and closely related interface waves (Rayleigh, Stoneley and Scholte) play an important role in many areas of engineering, geophysics and underwater acoustics. In some cases interest is focused on large-amplitude waves of low frequency such as those associ ated with earthquakes and nuclear explosions; in other cases low amplitude waves, which have often travelled great distances through the sediment, are of interest. Both low and high frequency shear and interface waves are often used for seafloor probing and sediment characterization. As a result of the wide spectrum of different interests, different disciplines have developed lines of research and a literature particularly suited to their own problems. For example water-column acousticians view the seafloor sediment as the lower boundary of their domain and are interested in shear and interface waves in the near bottom sediments mainly from the standpoint of how they influence absorption and reflection at this boundary. On the other hand, geophysicists seeking deep oil deposits are interested in the maximum penetration into the sediments and the tell-tale characteristics of the seismic waves that have encountered potential oil or gas bearing strata. In another area, geotechnical engineers use shear and interface waves to study soil properties necessary for the design and the siting of seafloor structures.