Automated two-dimensional localization of underwater acoustic transient impulses using vector sensor image processing (vector sensor localization).

Detecting acoustic transients by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) becomes problematic in nonstationary ambient noise environments characteristic of coral reefs. An alternate approach presented here uses signal directionality to automatically detect and localize transient impulsive sounds collected on underwater vector sensors spaced tens of meters apart. The procedure, which does not require precise time synchronization, first constructs time-frequency representations of both the squared acoustic pressure (spectrogram) and dominant directionality of the active intensity (azigram) on each sensor.

Capacitive Bio-Inspired Flow Sensing Cupula.

Submersible robotics have improved in efficiency and versatility by incorporating features found in aquatic life, ranging from thunniform kinematics to shark skin textures. To fully realize these benefits, sensor systems must be incorporated to aid in object detection and navigation through complex flows. Again, inspiration can be taken from biology, drawing on the lateral line sensor systems and neuromast structures found on fish.

Photosynthesis by marine algae produces sound, contributing to the daytime soundscape on coral reefs.

We have observed that marine macroalgae produce sound during photosynthesis. The resultant soundscapes correlate with benthic macroalgal cover across shallow Hawaiian coral reefs during the day, despite the presence of other biological noise. Likely ubiquitous but previously overlooked, this source of ambient biological noise in the coastal ocean is driven by local supersaturation of oxygen near the surface of macroalgal filaments, and the resultant formation and release of oxygen-containing bubbles into the water column.

Beamforming using chip-scale atomic clocks in a controlled environment.

Recently developed low-power Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks (CSACs) hold promise for underwater acoustics applications because they enable time-coherent processing, critical for estimating the directionality of the sound field, when acoustic array elements cannot share a timing reference. Controlled, tank-based experiments with a small acoustic array (N = 4) featuring CSAC-equipped elements show that optimal disciplining is important for continued array coherence. Clock drift equivalent to a 10% wavelength error at 0.

A highly directional transducer for multipath mitigation in high-frequency underwater acoustic communications.

This paper presents a transducer design of the hollow cylinder type designed to minimize transmission multipath and the need for channel equalization over short acoustic communication distances in shallow water. Operating at 750 kHz, the half-maximum envelope of the main lobe is approximately 3°. The transducer was incorporated into a low-complexity modem system in which it acted as both transmitter and receiver.

Cross-correlation, triangulation, and curved-wavefront focusing of coral reef sound using a bi-linear hydrophone array.

A seven element, bi-linear hydrophone array was deployed over a coral reef in the Papahãnaumokuãkea Marine National Monument, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, in order to investigate the spatial, temporal, and spectral properties of biological sound in an environment free of anthropogenic influences. Local biological sound sources, including snapping shrimp and other organisms, produced curved-wavefront acoustic arrivals at the array, allowing source location via focusing to be performed over an area of 1600 m(2). Initially, however, a rough estimate of source location was obtained from triangulation of pair-wise cross-correlations of the sound.

The origins of ambient biological sound from coral reef ecosystems in the Line Islands archipelago.

Although ambient biological underwater sound was first characterized more than 60 years ago, attributing specific components of ambient sound to their creators remains a challenge. Noise produced by snapping shrimp typically dominates the ambient spectra near tropical coasts, but significant unexplained spectral variation exists. Here, evidence is presented indicating that a discernible contribution to the ambient sound field over coral reef ecosystems in the Line Islands archipelago originates from the interaction of hard-shelled benthic macro-organisms with the coral substrate.

Estimating the horizontal and vertical direction-of-arrival of water-borne seismic signals in the northern Philippine Sea.

Conventional and adaptive plane-wave beamforming with simultaneous recordings by large-aperture horizontal and vertical line arrays during the 2009 Philippine Sea Engineering Test (PhilSea09) reveal the rate of occurrence and the two-dimensional arrival structure of seismic phases that couple into the deep ocean. A ship-deployed, controlled acoustic source was used to evaluate performance of the horizontal array for a range of beamformer adaptiveness levels. Ninety T-phases from unique azimuths were recorded between Yeardays 107 to 119.