Acoustic ducting by shelf water streamers at the New England shelfbreak

Jennifer J Johnson; Ying-Tsong Lin; Arthur E Newhall; Glen G Gawarkiewicz; David P Knobles; Jason D Chaytor; William S Hodgkiss

doi:10.1121/10.0020348

Acoustic ducting by shelf water streamers at the New England shelfbreak

JASA Express Lett. 2023 Aug 1;3(8):086001. doi: 10.1121/10.0020348.

Authors

Jennifer J Johnson¹, Ying-Tsong Lin¹, Arthur E Newhall¹, Glen G Gawarkiewicz², David P Knobles³, Jason D Chaytor⁴, William S Hodgkiss⁵

Affiliations

¹ Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
² Physical Oceanography Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
³ Knobles Scientific and Analysis, Austin, Texas 73301, USA.
⁴ U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
⁵ Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92093, USAjjjohnson@whoi.edu; ytlin@whoi.edu; anewhall@whoi.edu; ggawarkiewicz@whoi.edu; dpknobles@kphysics.org; jchaytor@usgs.gov; whodgkiss@ucsd.edu.

PMID: 37526568
DOI: 10.1121/10.0020348

Abstract

Greater sound speed variability has been observed at the New England shelfbreak due to a greater influence from the Gulf Stream with increased meander amplitudes and frequency of Warm Core Ring (WCR) generation. Consequently, underwater sound propagation in the area also becomes more variable. This paper presents field observations of an acoustic near-surface ducting condition induced by shelf water streamers that are related to WCRs. The field observations also reveal the subsequent disappearance of the streamer duct due to the passage of a WCR filament. These two water column conditions are investigated with sound propagation measurements and numerical simulations.