Abstract
This paper presents the results from an experimental work to characterize the underwater sound field radiated by breaking waves. Measurements of the ambient noise in the frequency range 20Hz 20kHz, generated by laboratory breaking waves, are presented. It has been observed that the sources of sound in spilling breakers are primarily in the frequencies ranging from 300 Hz to 20 kHz. The plunging waves, however contributes to the noise spectrum from less than a few hundred hertz to 20 kHz. Attempts have been made to correlate breaking wave acoustics with the dynamics of breaking waves. The acoustic radiated energy has been found to be proportional to energy dissipation and the square of the maximum wave slope parameter. INTRODUCTION It is well known that wave breaking is a major contributor to free surface ocean ambient noise. Since the noise levels in the ocean surface are linked to the wind speed, early works have been focused on the correlation of wind speed to the sound intensity. The pioneering outcome is the Knudsen spectrum for ambient noise (Knudsen et al. 1948). The Knudsen spectrum, specified in the frequency range 500 I-Iz to 50kHz, has a typical spectral slope of about -5 to -6 dB/octave. Spectral power in this frequency range is shown to increase with wind speed. In general, the spectral features of the Knudsen spectrum are in agreement with the vast laboratory and field observations. IResearch Fellow, tmssas@nus.edu.sg; 2Director, tmsdir@nus.edu.sg; Tropical Marine Scienc e Institute, National University of Singapore Singapore 119 223
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