ASA 124th Meeting New Orleans 1992 October

1aUW13. Analysis and characterization of ambient noise in shallow water.

Jacob George

Naval Res. Lab., SSC Detachment, Code 245, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

Sources and characteristics of ambient noise in deep water have been the subject of extensive investigations [e.g., R. J. Urick, Principles of Underwater Sound (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1983), Chap. 7, and references therein]. More recently, fluctuations of ambient noise in shallow water has been studied by several authors [e.g., Clay et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 77, 424 (1985), and references therein]. In the present work, ambient noise data from a shallow water experiment in the Pacific (water depth 600 ft; range of frequencies 50--500 Hz) are analyzed. Cumulative distribution functions and other features are examined and are contrasted with findings from the results of previous research. [Work supported by ONT.]