Sound speed profile calculations for the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Many sound speed calculations for the Gulf of Mexico use an average sound speed over the entire Gulf. In a variety of applications, such as localization or tracking of marine mammals, a more precise sound speed profile is helpful to make more accurate calculations. Using a reasonable approximation to Del Grosso’s equation, the sound speed profile may be computed as a function of temperature, pressure, and salinity. The Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center—Gulf Ecological Monitoring and Modeling (LADC-GEMM) project collected underwater acoustic data in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 2015 using Environmental Acoustic Recording Systems (EARS), returning to sites previously surveyed by LADC. Oceanographic data were also collected at those sites and can be used for more accurate sound speed profiles at the specific locations and specific times of the acoustic data recordings, increasing the accuracy of subsequent calculations such as real-time tracking and other applications. Sound speed profiles for sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico will be presented. [This research was made possible by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. Data are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information & Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org.]