A year-long record of low-frequency, long-range, ducted sound propagation from the Canada Basin to the Chukchi Shelf

Abstract

The Pacific Arctic Region, has experienced decadal changes in atmospheric conditions, seasonal sea-ice coverage, and seawater temperature. From the October 2016 to September 2017, the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment (CANAPE) was conducted to understand the changing soundscape and to explore the use of acoustic signals as a remote sensing tool in the modern Arctic. During the experiment, low-frequency signals from five tomographic sources located in the Canada Basin were recorded by an array of hydrophones with both horizontal and vertical apertures located on the Chukchi Shelf at the 150 m isobath. The propagation distances ranged from 240 km to 520 km, and the propagation conditions changed from persistently ducted in the basin to seasonally upward refracting on the continental shelf. The water column properties and ice draft were measured by oceanographic sensors on the basin tomography moorings and by an array of oceanographic moorings on the continental shelf and slope to characterize the temporal and spatial variability of the environment. This talk examines the range-dependent measurements and explains the observed variability in the received signals through propagation modeling using the oceanographic measurements. [Work sponsored by ONR.]