Effects of water temperature inversion layer on underwater sound propagation in the East China Sea

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effect of a water temperature inversion layer on the propagation of acoustic waves in the western coastal sea of Jeju Island in April 2015. When the acoustic source and receiver are simultaneously located within the water temperature inversion layer depth, the long-range propagation of acoustic waves is confirmed by numerical modeling. This is caused by the duct effect due to the water temperature inversion phenomenon. For the experimental area without the water temperature inversion layer, when the acoustic source and receiver are simultaneously located below thermocline depth, the long-range propagation of acoustic waves is also confirmed. This is generally caused by the seasonal water temperature profile.