Development of an Underwater Acoustics Laboratory Course

Abstract

An underwater acoustics laboratory course has been instituted at the University of Miami using a natural body of water as the experimental medium. The experiments are conducted in Bear Cut, which connects Biscayne Bay to the Straits of Florida. The 600-ft acoustic range from the Institute of Marine Sciences pier to an instrument tower in Bear Cut is an almost flat channel with an average depth of about 13 ft. The majority of the equipment employed by the students consisted of piezoelectric projectors and hydrophones, and standard electronic laboratory apparatus such as oscillators, oscilloscopes, power amplifiers, filters, etc. The sequence of the experiments were planned for equipment familiarization and results needed for future tests. During the initial offering of this course in the Spring 1970 semester, experiments were conducted on the measurement of a piezoelectric transducer equivalent circuit, ambient-noise spectrum, spreading loss for several distances, reciprocity calibration, and waveguide effect. For the next offering, additional experiments are planned on arrays including shading and electrical steering, pulse modulation transmission, reflection, sound-velocity measurement, and longer range propagation. The laboratory's facilities are also available for student research.