Analysis of monostatic and bistatic reverberation measurements on the Scotian Shelf

Abstract

During the Boundary 2001 sea trial, a number of long-range reverberation measurements were made at a site on the Scotian Shelf between Halifax and Sable Island. The water depth was about 80 m over a sandy bottom. The sources were SUS charges dropped from either the NATO research vessel Alliance or the Canadian research vessel CFAV Quest. The receiver was the SACLANTCEN 254-m towed array aboard Alliance. The data were analyzed in two array apertures and frequencies from 80 Hz to 1400 Hz. Model-data comparisons were made using the Generic Sonar Model, with bottom parameters being extracted using both a manual procedure and an automated procedure. Direct measures of the scattering and bottom properties were made by other researchers, including Hines, Holland, and Osler. The bottom topography was fairly smooth near the site, but at long ranges there were numerous scattering features. The polar plots of the data, and model-data differences, are compared with the bathymetric features in the area. [Work supported in part by ONR Code 32, Grant No. N00014-97-1-1034.]