Energy fluctuations of high-frequency sound signals in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear internal waves

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of energy fluctuations of high-frequency (2–4.5 kHz) sound signals propagating in a shallow water in the presence of nonlinear (soliton-like) internal waves (2006 Shallow Water experiment, US Atlantic shelf). Signals were received by three single hydrophones in different directions at distances of ∼4, ∼12, and ∼5 km from the source. The angle between the first two acoustic tracks was ∼15°. The third track was almost an extension of the first and was on the other side of the source. A relatively short (one to two solitons) nonlinear internal wave packet first moved approximately along the first two tracks and then along the third track. It is demonstrated that in the presence of solitons on the track in the frequency spectrum of energy fluctuations, there is an isolated frequency that depends, in particular, on the angle between the soliton front and the acoustic track. The experimental results agree well with the theory previously proposed by the authors, where the occurrence mechanism of fluctuations is explained using the ray approach.