6

I rtl rttduttiorr
l''e last two chirpt.rs rrcal wittr the practice
of ac..stic
strrvcyirrl.l,
l,
measure the abunrrirrr.t'
ir.rtr cristribution
of flsh.
.r.r"
"rr,fri,,,ri*
i, .,,, r.t,.,
practical problems
trrirr irrisc i. applying
the theoreticor p.i,,..rjrr.."
.rir,.,,*r.,.1
earlier' rn chapter
i. r't' t.rrsid"i
trr*" equipment
reqrircrr
rirr. irr..rrsrit.
surveys, the design ol thc t.nrise track and the ru_pfi.ri--ri.attl8v
to rrrrrkr,
the best use of tht' ir'irir:rbrc
time. Live-fish
.rriu.utf,
orr,i irrtt.r_srrilr
comparison
are tw() rrr.lh..cls l.rrr testing the overall p".iornr,,,r.:",,r,f,,.
survcy equiplnent
irr tht'ricltr.
although
they are not a substitrrt.t,rirr.rrrr.
recommended
ctrribrirti,rr pr,ccclure.
in chapter g,
we discuss the irrrirrysis
of the data colrectecr
rrrrrirrg trre survey. itr" ui* is to calculate
.rrurrtrirrrt.r,
estimates
within
derirrcd t:r,ricrence
limits. First, tn"
""n,r_irri"g.,,r,,,.
.t,,r,,
must be partitionecl
rrclw.clr species,
and the surveyed
areil r,iry rrirv. r, rx.
stratified depe,di.g
.tt tlre stationarity
of the fish density.
a,, .":i,,,_i,,r,.g
rator conversion
I'ir...r is c'irlcurated
for each species a,cr strirtrrrrr ri..rrr
which the de.rsity
sar,ples are obtained.
Tie totar abundant:e
is t.srir.irrt.rr
from the observed
densitics.'fhere
are a number of approac,.s
r, rrris
problem,
which is ..r1plis11fecl
by the ,rrtirti.,
of spatial corrclirli.rr.
w<.
describe contour
mappirrg, krigi.g and numericar
methods
based ().
r1\.ri,r
gular grid strata.
The various lactors which contribute
error ilFc 11151.q151;1,11
and we show how the trverall accurac:y
of the abunclance
estir.ir.t,t.irrr
lrt.
assessed. 'rhe
resurts obtained tiom o.ourtr. surveys
are corrpirr(.tr
witlr
those of alternative
n.rethods,
again to i"Ji""r"
the accuracy
,rirr t.irrr rrr,
expected
in typical circurnstances.
In compiling
the re.erences,
we have concentrated
on the ,rirrry
,rr', lications which have irppeared
in the past
ii
r"u* or so, avoi.irg .'s.'.rt.
material
but inciudinq
kev re'eren"",
to
"*ti"r
work that raid tlrr. rirr,r_
dations of modern fi.sheries
acoustics.
-s"J^
v"."-u (19g5)
rirr ir rrr.r.t.
complete
bibliographv
ol earlier work.
Chapte,r two
Underwater sound
2.1 INTRODUCTION
'l'lrc tll(r()ry of sound is similar in many respects to that of light. Both
plrt'rrorncna consist of waves which propagate tlrrough a medium. Both are
irlso subjcct to scattering, reflection and absorption, which complicate the
sirnpk' idca of waves transmitting energy through a homogeneous, Iossless
rnt'tlirrrn as it is explained in elementary physic:s textbooks. In water, sound
t':rrr [rt: transmitted over much longer clistances than light, but water is
rrcvt'rtheless an imperfect acoustic mediuln. I,)nergy is removed (scattered)
lirrrrr the sound wave by suspended solids, biota or entrained gas, or simply
t'orrvcrted to heat by physical absorption. All these effects need to be
t'orrsitlered in fishery applications, where the usual intention is to deduce
li'rrttrres of remote targets from the acoustic signals detected by a sonar or
ol,lrcr instrument.
'l'his
chapter provides a largely qualitative view of the generation, trans-
rrrission and detection of sound in water. Mathematical descriptions are kept
t.o the minimum necessary as background for the discussion of practical
applications later on. Wt'bcgin with thc concept of sound waves and-their
physical propcrl.ics prcssurrr, partir:lc velocity and intensity. Next we
r:onsider the transtluccrs which generatc sound from electrical energy, and
t.lrc manner in which the sound is projected in particular directions as a
lx:irrn. The transmission of sound is discussed with particular reference to
cncrgy losses through beam spreading and absorption. Empirical equations
are given for calculating the sound speed and absorption coefficient in water.
We go on to deal with acoustic scattering and the nature of echoes reflected
by variotrs kinds of target. Finally, we consider the detection of acoustic
signals rrrrtl t.lrc irnportance of noise as the limiting factor in the performance
of acot rst it' irrsl.rurnents.
'I'he readt:r wlro wishes to know more about the physics of sound may
consult one ol't.lrc lirllowing references. Rayleigh (1945) is the classic and
8
Urulerwater
sound
still much-quoted
work o, the subject; see also Morse (194g),
or offrccr
(1958)'
Rschevkin (1963),
Mason (1964).
Urick (1983),'ctuy
u.,Jta"a.,i,,
(1977)'
and Tucker and Gazey (1966)
are textbooks
on underwatcr acous_
tics, while Forbes and Nakken (1972),
Burczynski (\979),1otarrn"rr.,,,
,,,rA
Mitson (1983)
and Mitson
r9g4a) deal specificatty
wittr fiste.y ,,ppli.,,-
tions.
a
b
List of symbols
Radius of a sphere, or the side of a square
The beam pattern;
function of direction which describes the amprittrrrc
sensitivity
Bandwidth
ol'the sonirr receiver
Sound speed in water
Speed of longitudinal
sound waves in a solid
Speed of transverse
sound waves in a solid
Characteristic
linear size of a target
Depth below the water surface
Energy
Equivalent beam angle in dB relative to 1 steradian
Frequency (cycles per second)
Frequency
of the sine waves within a pulse
Frequency of the lowest resonance in a solid target
Form function (ratio
ol'acoustic and geometric
cross_sections)
Intensity of a sound wave (power peiunit
area)
Intensity normalized
to 1 m range
Intensity of the backscattered
wave
Intensity of the incident wave
Flux of energy transmitted per unit area
The wavenumber
r
)z
1.1
Pulse length in water
n Number of targets, cycles, etc.
No, Ratio of two intensities
expressed in decibels
p Instantaneous pressure
of a sound wave
lpl Amplitude of the sound pressure
variation
lpol
Pressure amplitude normalized to 1 m range
P Ambient pressure
in the water
P(a-r) Power response of the sonar at frequency a_r
r Reflection
coefficient; proportion
of incident energy reflected at a
boundary
R Range or distance
Rb Range at the boundary
between the near and far lierds
s(ro) Acoustic cross-section
at frequency ar
ts
c
C1
c2
d
D
E
EBA
J
Io
T,
F
I
Io
Ib
li
I
k
L
t
t
t
r
I
i
i
i
s
.s/,
I
,I
Sound. waves
Salinity of water
Source level of a transducer (sound pressure at 1 m, in dB)
'l'irne
( l) 'l'ime
between the transmitter pulse and the echo being received
{2)
'l'emperature
?'.S
'l'arget
strength, a logarithmic measure of o.
v I'article velocity associated with a sound wave
lvl
Ampli.tude of the particle velocity variation
V. Sampling volume
r l)istance along the propagation path, or a general variable
Z Acoustic impedance, equal to the density times the sound speed
7,, Acoustic impedance of a reflector
Z* Ac:orrstic impedance of water
a Absorption coefficient in dB per unit distance (i Np:8.686 dB)
/
Absorption coefficient in nepers (Np) per unit distance
(,)
Angle from the acoustic axis
{
Azirnuthal angle in the transducer plane
,1. Wavelength, distance between successive peaks of a sound wave
p l)cnsity of water
pr l)cnsity of a solid target
o
'l'hc
total acoustic cross-section, effective value averaged over the
sonar bandwidth
o1,'l'hc backscattering cross-section
r l'rrlstr duration, time from start to finish
,1, l,iquivalent beam angle in steradians
u) Angular frequency (radians per second)
2.2 SOUND WAVES
Sound is transmitted by the periodic compression and expansion which is
pcrrnitted by the elasticity of water. This results in a travelling pressure wave
as illustrated in F-ig. 2.1 for the case of sinusoidal variations at one
lrequency. At any point in space, the pressure p relative to the ambient level
varies as sin (art) where t is the time and a-l is the angular frequency of the
oscillation.
/:
alQn) is the frequency in hertz (Hz), the number of cycles per
second. When the wave is plane, this means that changes occur in one
direction only, the direction in which the wave propagates. p is the same
everywhere in any plane perpendicular to this direction.
The wave-frt)nts are those planes in which p is maximal. More generally,
each wave-front is a surface joining
continuous loci of the peak pressures.
If r is the distancc along the direction of propagation of a plane wave, then
at any instant p changes as sin (kr). k is called the wavenumber. The pattern
of pressure changes in space is also cyclical and it repeats at intervals of the
10
Untlerwater sountl
High
pressure
Fig. 2.1 sound waves. The pressurc (top) varies cyclically as a si.e wilvc: ,. is r.ll(:
wavelength. The particle Llsplacenrent (rnitldle)
is out of phase with t5., p..'sst,rc.,t'lr"
wave-tionts (lowen
are litre> \,1hich lbllow the maximurn pressure.
wavelength ),:(2nik). Thus L is the distance between successiv. wirvt,_
fronts (Fig'
2.1). c-'ornbiriing the crranges in space and time, we cirr siry l.rrirt
p varies as sin(kr-r,-rt). T'his implies that the wave-lionts rnove ltrrwirrt.l irt
the sound speed c:or,/k. Another important relationship whic:h irrrrrrcrliirtcly
follows lrom these definitions is that the souncl specd is cclr-ral to t1t, pr6tlrrr.l
of the wavelength and thr: frequency:
c:)"J
(2.1
)
The sound speed describes the movement of thc pressure pc.rks (w.vc-
lionts) through the nredium and should not be coniused with thc p.rticlc
velocity, which applies to the local movement of molecules. F'or watcr, (,
is
generally
in the range 1450 to r55oms
-r,
depending., the tempt:rirrtrrc,
ambient pressure
and the salinity. The wavelength is important as thtr
I'undamental limit o. the spatierl resolution of targets. The smallcr th.
wavelength, or the higher the frequency, the easier it is to discrimirr.tc
targets that are close together. If c is 15ooms-r, a typical value in thc sc.,
then sound of 1o kHz frequency has a wavelength of r 5 cm. If the lrequency
is 5OO kHz, the wavelength is reduced to 3 mm.
The continuous sine wave is a convenient and simple descripti.n or'
sound, but in practice
we need to consider more complicated waveforms
such as pulses and echoes whose amplitude changes *ith ti-". If.wever,
any sound wave may be conceived as the sum of continuous sine wavcs over
a spectrum of frequencies. The pulses transmitted by sonars comprise a I'ew
Sound waves
cyclcs ol'a sine wave which lasts for a finite time, the pulse duration. The
licqucrrcy of the sonar as quoted by the manufacturer is that of the sine
wavc,
./i,,
but some of the energy is transmitted at other frequencies within
ir lrantl t:entred on
1,.
The width of the band
'depends
upon the pulse
tlurat.ion. The shorter the pulse, the wider is the'.spectrum of frequencies
transrnitted by the sonar. For example, if the pulse duration is r:1 ms, the
lrirndwidth is about B:l kHz; if r:2 ms, then'B:5OO Hz.
Pressure and displacement
In irtklition to the pressure changes, the wave causes the water molecules to
vibr;rlc.
'l'hc
amplitude of the molecular movement is called the particle
displirt't'rrrcnt, and the rate of change is the particle velocity. In a plane
wirvt', tlrt.particle velocity and the sound pressure are in phase, meaning
tlr:rt tlre rrraximum values coincide in time and space. They both vary as
sin(kl ru(), irntl the amplitudes are proportional. If p is the density of the
wirlt'r, llrt'rr
P: Pcv
(2.2)
Now r'onsider a smerll source which generates sound at one frequency. If
t.lrt' sotrrt'c is rcrnote lrorn any reflecting objects or surfaces, the waves are
siritl to pnrpagate in liee-field conditions. The wave-fronts are now spherical
:rlrtl Lht'-y travcl away lrom the source in any direction. The curved
wirvt.-li"ont.s rcsult in a more complicated relationship between the pressure
irntl tlrc pirrt.ir:lc velocity, compared with the plane wave (Harris, 1964; Siler,
1969). nt clistance R from the source.
lpl
: pcl"l
/
J [t
+
(7/ 2rR)')1 (2.3)
'l'hrr
rnoclulus symbols are used to indicate the amplitude of a sinusoidal
variablc.'l'hus the amplitude ratio
lpl/lvl
changes with range when R is the
orrlcr ol a wavelength or less. This phenomenon, known as the near-field
t:l'[cr:t, h:rs implications for the hearing ability of fish (section 4.2).
Sincc wnter is a fluid, it cannot sustain shear forces, and the particle
displacement is always in the direction of sound propagation. This type of
sound wave is described as longitudinal. More complicated sound flelds
ocr:ur in solids where transverse (shear) waves can propagate in the
clirection normal to the particle displacement. The speeds of transverse and
Iongitudintrl waves in solids are not generally the same.
Energy and intensity
An important feature of the travelling wave is that it transports energy from
one place to anothcr. The flux
/
is the energy of the waves passing through
a unit area perpendicular to the wave-front. The intenslty I is the energy
77
|
""n"".|'"0'"*"i*
I
Wave propagalion
- Wave
I trorr"
---r-'
I
72 lJnderwater sound
flux per unit time. It is convenient to use the intensity to descritrc thc powcr
of continuous waves, or long pulses within which the arnplitutk: is t:gpstlrrt
for many cycles. In the case of short pulses, the intensity may r:harrgc li.rrr
one cycle to the next and it is better to describe the pulse in t.crrns ol tlrc
total energy tiansmitted over the finite pulse duration (craig, lgli ]).
/
is
simply the integral of i with respect to time. The total energy ctrrricrl lry tlrt,
wave, E, is the integral of
/
with respect to area over the surl'acc ol'tlrc
wave-front. In the case of the scattered waves spreading outwtrrds lrorn ir
small target, the wave-fronts are spherical or nearly so, and E is finitc. 'l'hc
deflnition of the echo strength in terms of the total energy, rather tlran tlrt:
intensity, is better suited to the modern theory of echo integration irs
discussed in Chapter 5.
The instantaneous intensity is the product of the pressure
and the partit:lc
velocity. In a plane wave, combining the definition with Equati.n 2.2, w.
flnd that the intensity is proportional
to the pressure squared:
t:p2lpc (2.4)
More usually, it is the average intensity over one or more cycles that is
required, in which case Equation 2.4 still applies if the mean squarecl sourrd
pressure is substituted for p2. The quantity z:pc is called the acoust.it:
impedance, which is constant within a few percent over the souncl path irr
typical oceanic or lreshwater conditions. If the variation of z is ignorctl, l.6r:
echo energy obtained by integrating Equation 2.4 is proportional
kr pr. 'l,lris
is the reason why the echo integrator operates by first squaring the voltagc
at the echosounder output (which is proportional
to the sound prcsstrrc ut
the transducer) belbre the integration is performed. tt i"- the echo energy, rrot
the pressure
amplitude, rvhich is believed to be proportional
to t|c o6scrvstl
quantity of fish.
The decibel
Acoustic measurements are often quoted in decibel (dB) units rather than
the more formally correct SI units ibr pressure,
intensity, etc. This is donc
because the numbers involved can be very large or very small, covering
many orders of magnitude. The decibel is a logarithmic measure of thc
ratio of two intensities, e.g. 1, and Ir. The ratio is expressed in dB by thc
formula
NaB:10 log(l2ll1) (2.s)
'Log'
means the logarithm to the base 10, as elsewhere in this book. A
change in the sound level covering many orders of magnitude may bc
expressed within a modest range of decibels. Because the dB unit is s<r
commonly used in acoustics, it is important to understand how it is applied.
Transducers and beams 73
In principle, I, should be a reference level of intensity against which 12 is
rncastrred. For example, suppose a transducer generates a source level of
2(X)O(X)Pa (1 Pa:1Nm-2, the SI unit of pressure). The source level is
dclincd as the sound pressure at 1 m from the tiansducer. The reference
prcssurc used for transducer measurements is comnionly 1 pPa. Because the
intcnsity is proportional to the pressure squared, the source Ievel in dB is
SL
:
1o log(2oo 0OO/O.OOO0O1)2
:226d8
relative to 1 pPa
It is irnportant to include the reference pressure or intensity when describing
thc nrcasurement of an absolute quantity such as the source level. Otherwise
the clB number is meaningless. The above source level might equally be
rel'ercnced td 1 Pa, in which case it would be written as '106 dB relative to
I l)a', c:rrmmonly shortened to'106 dBl
lTpa'.
'l'hc
decibel unit is also used to describe the acoustic reflectivity of targets,
narncly the target strength (?S). The reflectivity is defined by the ratio of
thc rcllccted intensity at 1 m from the target (I2) and the incident intensity
(I,). Since I, is proportional to I,, the target strength is a true ratio and
thcrc is no need to quote a reference level in this case. For example, if 12 is
o.(xx)2 1,, then
TS:10 log(O.OOO2)
:
-37
dB
(2.7)
Wc tlist'rrss the important subject of target strength in more detail in section
2.5 irntl
('hapter
6.
2.3 TRANSDUCERS AND BEAMS
'l'hc
transducer supplied with fishery sonars has two functions. Firstly, it
c:onvcrts electrical energy into the transmitted acoustic pulse, sometimes
callccl the ping. Secondly, when targets reflect the ping, the transducer
conv(:rts the acoustic echoes to electrical signals which are applied to the
recciving amplifier. The most common type of transducer is made from
r:erarnic materials which are piezo-electric. When pressure is applied to this
matcrial, a voltage is generated, and the effect is reversible: when an
oscillating externdl voltage is applied, the ceramic expands and contracts,
radiating sound as it does so. The magneto-strictive transducer is another
type and is found particularly in low-frequency applications. However, the
ceramic transducers have a higher efficiency, and they are preferred for
fishery applications. More complete descriptions of the physics of transducers
are given by Mason (1964) and Tucker and Gazey (7966).
Ceramic and magneto-strictive transducers project modest amounts of
energy into the water. Various other techniques have been used to produce
(2.6)