C.S.Clay: A distinguished acoustician

Abstract

Clay’s well-known work in ocean acoustics earned him an international reputation. His contributions ranged from studies of sound propagation in shallow water to the application of filter theory in noisy environments, diffraction from rough surfaces, sound scatter by fish and, generally speaking, the execution and design of numerous experiments. Less well known, perhaps on account of his modesty, was his role at Columbia University’s Hudson labs in designing a fully digitized microphone array for the study of low frequency atmospheric waves (in the 1 to 600 sec. period band), which led to the detection of gravity and acoustic-gravity waves from several nuclear tests. After leaving Columbia, Clay accepted a professorship at the University of Wisconsin where, among other things, he taught geophysics and continued research on sound scatter. His presence and participation at Acoustical Society meetings will be sorely missed.