Development of a deep-sea multi-mode acoustic sediments in situ measurement system

The acoustic properties including sound speed and the attenuation coefficient are important factors which determine the efficacy of acoustic equipments and targets detection of seafloor sediments. This paper presents a multi-mode acoustic in situ measurement system to be used in the deep sea. We analyzed the major system framework and relevant hardware and software. The proposed system provides two kinds of working modes, self-contained mode and real-time mode, to accommodate the needs of different scientific research vessels.