Measurements of harbor features and underwater acoustic data transmission performance

Data has been collected on two field days to characterize underwater acoustic conditions in small shallow-water spaces in the Fall River Harbor area of Taunton River, MA. This work is part of a project to develop sound characterization and modeling capabilities for constrained spaces. First, a bathymetric sonar from an uncrewed surface platform was used to accurately measure the seabed and boundary contours. Next, point-to-point sound propagation characteristics were measured, including data transmission throughput. Propagation characteristics and boundary reflection properties in the harbor were collected with source tracks of more than 8300 meters, transmitting thousands of rapid LFM pulses for quantifying the echo environment. Simultaneously, more than 30025-kHz data packets were transmitted at ranges of 20 to 800 m from the receivers, and more than 700 10-kHz data packets were transmitted at ranges of 20 m to 2200 m from the seven receiving hydrophones. The project goal of improving modeling of sound within ports and harbors can in turn improve the effectiveness of model use in the design of underwater acoustic systems. For example, such modeling could be used to understand causes of system performance variations or to make performance predictions.