The Correlation analysis between ambient noise level at low-frequency range and wind speed in shallow water

Abstract

The ambient noise level in the ocean is an important consideration in the enhancement of passive sonar detection performance as well as undersea surveillance in a harbor area. The wind affects considerably the ambient noise level in the ocean. For this reason, many researchers have analyzed the wind dependency of ambient noise levels in the ocean in the last few decades. However, this analysis is mainly limited to more than the frequency of 100Hz, because the ambient noise level below 100 Hz has been affected by sea current. In this study, we have investigated ambient noise levels in the frequency range 10 Hz - 100Hz as the wind speed increases in shallow water. A drifting small vessel is used to exclude the effect of fluid noise generated on the surface of a hydrophone due to the sea current. The correlation between the ambient noise level and wind speed in frequency range 10 - 25 Hz showed from 0.77 to 0.95. Whereas, it was from 0.11 to 0.69 in the frequency range 32 -100 Hz. The maximum correlation appeared at 10 and 16 Hz. This was much higher than those measured in the frequency range 1kHz - 25 kHz.