• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2015

Salinity affects sound speed in the low salinity environment, in the seas where freshwater from large rivers and flows into the marginal sea area near the Yangtze River and the Niger River. In this paper, SSC (Surface Sound Channel) formed by low salinity water was investigated in the East China Sea and the Gulf of Guinea of rainy season. The data from KODC (Korea Oceanographic Data Center) in the East China Sea and from ARGO (Array for Real-time Geostrophic Oceanography) in the Gulf of Guinea of the tropical area were used for analysis. SSC haline channel was formed 14 times among 32 SSC occurrences when the 90 data from 9 points were analyzed during a decade (2000 ~ 2009) in the East China Sea. In the Gulf of Guinea, haline channel was formed 18 times among 20 SSC occurrences during 3 years (2006 ~ 2009). When the sound speed gradient was analyzed from temperature-salinity gradient diagram, the gradients of both salinity and temperature affect SSC formation in the East China Sea. In contrast, the salinity gradient mostly affects SSC formation due to the least change of temperature in the well-developed mixed layer in the Gulf of Guinea. Their acoustic characteristics show that channel depth is 6.5 m, critical angle is $1.5^{\circ}$ and difference of transmission loss between surface and thermocline is 11.5 dB in the East China Sea, while channel depth is 18 ~ 24 m, critical angle is $4.0{\sim}5.4^{\circ}$ and difference of transmission loss is 21.5 ~ 27.9 dB in the Gulf of Guinea. These results are expected to be used as a basic understanding of the acoustic transmission changes due to low salinity water at the estuaries and the ocean with heavy precipitation.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2013

Salinity does not generally affect sound speed because it shows very small variations in the ocean. However, low salinity water appears in the Western Sea of Jeju Island every summer so that sound speed and sound propagation can change near sea surface. We calculated Sound Speed Profile (SSP) using vertical profiles of temperature and salinity, which were averaged over years of normal salinity and low salinity (<28 psu) from 30 years (1980~2009) at 3 sites of Korea Oceanographic Data Center (KODC). As a result, sound speed variation by low salinity alone was -5.36 m/s at sea surface and -1.35 m/s at 10m depth for low salinity environments. Gradient of SSP was positive down to 5 m depth due to decrease of sound speed near surface, leading formation of haline channel. Simulation of acoustic propagation using a ray model (Bellhop) confirmed the haline channel. Haline channel has formed 4 times while hydrostatic channel controlled by only pressure has formed 9 times for 30 years. The haline channel showed larger critical angles of rays than hydrostatic channel. Haline channel was also formed at some sites among 20 measurement sites in low salinity water mass which appeared on August $1^{st}$ 2010.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.16-24
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• 2011

The sound speed of seawater can be calculated by the empirical formula as a function of temperature, salinity and pressure. It is little affected by salinity because the average salinity is 34 psu and varies within a few psu seasonally and spatially in the ocean. Recently, low-salinity water of 24 psu flows into the western sea area of Jeju Island due to the flood of the Yangtze River in China during summer, affecting sound speed profile. In this paper, it was analyzed how environmental changes affected to the underwater communication - the sound speed of low-salinity water was calculated, and the communication channel was estimated by the simulated acoustic rays while the transmitting and receiving depth and the range were varied with and without the low-salinity layer. And The BER (Bit error rate) was calculated by BPSK(Binary phase shift key) modulation and the effects of the low-salinity water on the BER was investigated. The sound speed profile was changed to have positive slope by the low-salinity layer at the sub-surface up to 20 m of depth, forming acoustic wave propagation channel at the sub-surface resulting in the decrease of most of the BER Consequently, this paper suggests that it is important to consider changes of the ocean environment for correctly analyzing the underwater communication and the detection capability.