Shelfbreak processes affecting acoustic propagation in a changing ocean

Abstract

Fundamental physical oceanographic processes affecting sound speed fields and acoustic propagation have been studied in shelfbreak regions for some time. Integrated observations extending back to the 1990s have related acoustic propagation variability to basic thermohaline structure as well as physical oceanographic processes causing significant variability in sound speed fields. Key shelfbreak processes such as frontal wave propagation, eddy-Shelfbreak Jet interactions, and wind-driven motions will be described. The influence of ocean warming and climate change impacts on these processes will be outlined with emphasis on the Middle Atlantic Bight in the northeastern United States. The impacts of changes in both the atmospheric Jet Stream as well as the Gulf Stream on the Shelfbreak Front and Jet and implications for acoustic propagation will be presented.