Estimation of Effects of Underwater Acoustic Channel Capacity Due to the Bubbles in the High Frequency Near the Coastal Area

Measurements of bubble size and distribution in the surface layer of the sea, wind speed, and variation of ocean environments were made continually over a four-day period in an experiment conducted in the South Sea of Korea during 17-20 September 2007. Theoretical background of bubble population model indicates that bubble population is a function of the depth, range and wind speed and bubble effects on sound speed shows that sound speed varies with frequency. Observational evidence exhibited that the middle size bubble population fit the model very well, however, smaller ones can not follow the model probably due to their short lifetime. Meanwhile, there is also a hysteresis effect of void fraction. Observational evidence also indicates that strong changes in sound speed are produced by the presence of swarms of micro bubbles especially from 7 kHz to 50 kHz, and calculation results are consistent with the measured data in the high frequency band, but inconsistent in the low frequency band. Based on the measurements of the sound speed and high frequency transmission configuration in the bubble layer, we present an estimation of underwater acoustic channel capacity in the bubble layer.