Experimental Test of the Acoustic Thermometry Method on a Long Track in the Sea of Japan

Abstract

Methodological and technical possibilities of monitoring temperature fields along a 1000-km track in the Sea of Japan using acoustic thermometry are presented. The proposed tomographic method for monitoring the dynamics and structure of waters is based on emission and reception of complex phase-shift keyed signals on a diagnosed path with determination of the propagation time along various ray trajectories with further measurement of the speed of sound and temperature. The physical prerequisites for practical use of thermometric studies at large distances are based on the acoustic “mudslide” effect: the phenomenon of the transition of acoustic energy from the bottom shelf area to an underwater sound signal of the deep ocean. A high-precision system of acoustic thermometry on the basis of tomographic schemes with mobile and stationary hydroacoustic emitters and receiving systems is proposed and tested with the example of the Sea of Japan.