Vector Acoustic Analysis of Time-Separated Modal Arrivals From Explosive Sound Sources During the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment

The Intensity Vector Autonomous Recorder (IVAR) is a system that records four coherent channels of acoustic data continuously: one channel for acoustic pressure and three channels associated with a triaxial accelerometer from which acoustic particle velocity is obtained. IVAR recorded the vector acoustic field in broadband signals originating from Signal, Underwater Sound (SUS) (Mk-64) charges deployed at 5-13-km range from the fixed IVAR site (mean depth 74.4 m) as part of the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment (SBCEX) designed to study the acoustics of fine-grained muddy sediments. Sufficient geometric dispersion at these ranges permitted unambiguous identification of up to four modes as a function of frequency for frequencies less than 80 Hz. From time-frequency analysis of the dispersed arrivals, a single mode (n) and single-frequency (f
_i
) properties are identified at peaks in the narrowband scalar field, with time dependence corresponding to mode group speed. At these time-frequency addresses, four quantities derived from the vector acoustic measurements are formed by coherent combination of pressure and velocity channels: first, modal phase speed; second, circularity, a measure of the normalized curl of active intensity; third, depth-dependent mode speed of energy; and fourth, vertical component of reactive intensity normalized by scalar intensity. A means to compute these quantities theoretically is provided, and a comparison of model results based on a notional geoacoustic representation for the SBCEX experimental area consisting of a single low-speed mud layer over a half-space area versus a Pekeris representation based on the same half-space shows a striking difference, with the field observations also clearly at variance with the Pekeris representation. A fundamental property of mode 2, observed at the IVAR location, is a change in sign for circularity and vertical reactive intensity near 37 Hz that is posited as a constraint observation for mode 2 that must be exhibited by any geoacoustic model that includes a low-speed mudlike layer applied to this location.