• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.208-216
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• 2014

In case of any coastal ocean near the mouth of huge rivers, low salinity water can be formed due to its large amount of freshwater discharge. For the acoustic analysis on the low salinity environment, some oceanographic data of the East China Sea and the Atlantic Ocean were collected through KODC (Korea Oceanographic Data Center) and NODC (National Oceanographic Data Center) online service. In this paper, the T-S gradient diagram is introduced to show a relation between the gradients of temperature and salinity in view of acoustic surface channel formation. Existence of haline channel, quantitative contribution of gradients of salinity and temperature, effectiveness of the channel formation can be known by the T-S gradient diagram. After applying the collected data into the diagram, tropical regions of the Atlantic Ocean show strong haline channel due to its nearly invariant temperature and drastic change of salinity with depth. The averaged transmission loss in the channel is about 5.7 ~ 7.5 dB less than that out of the channel by the results of acoustic propagation model (RAM: Range independent Acoustic Model). On the other hand, the East China Sea and temperate region of the Atlantic ocean have weaker haline channel with less difference of the averaged transmission loss between in and out of the channel as 3.2 ~ 6.0 dB. Although data samples used in this study have limitation to represent the general physical structures of the three ocean regions, the T-S gradient diagram is shown to be useful and acoustic field affected by low salinity environment is investigated in this study.

• 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.

• 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.