Arctic Dispersion Interruption Phenomenon and Sound Source Depth Estimation
2026-08-31 • Sound
Sound
AI summaryⓘ
The authors explain that in the deep Arctic Ocean, sound travels in special layers that guide waves in patterns called modes. If a sound source or receiver is placed at certain depths where these wave patterns cancel out, the sound can't be sent or detected properly, causing gaps in the sound signal's frequency pattern. By studying these gaps and knowing the receiver's depth, the authors show it’s possible to figure out the source's depth. They confirmed their method using both computer simulations and real experiments.
sound speed profileArctic Oceannormal mode waveguideeigenfunction nodesmodal amplitudedispersion structuretime-frequency analysisacoustic signalsource depth estimationwave propagation
Authors
Weng Jinbao, Yang Yanming, Chen Benqing, Xu Dewei, Zhou Hongtao
Abstract
The sound speed profile in the deep Arctic Ocean causes the surface layer to form a normal mode waveguide. When the depth of the sound source or receiver is near a node of the eigenfunction, the source cannot excite the mode, or the receiver cannot detect it, resulting in the modal amplitude at the receiver being approximately zero. This manifests as a dispersion interruption in the dispersion structure, which can be observed through time-frequency analysis of the received acoustic signal. Based on the interruption frequency identified from the received signal, combined with the relationship between node depth and modal frequency calculated from the ocean sound speed profile, the source depth can be estimated if the receiver depth is known. The phenomenon of dispersion interruption and the method of estimating source depth have been validated through simulations and experiments.