• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.423-430
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• 2011

The most satisfactory split-beam transducer for fish sizing maintains a wide bearing angle region for correct fish tracking without interference from side lobes and lower sensitivity to fish echoes outside of the main lobe region to correctly measure the angular location of free-swimming fishes in the sound beam. To evaluate the performance of an experimentally developed 50 kHz split-beam transducer, the angular location of a target was derived from the electrical phase difference between the resultant signals for the pair of transducer quadrants in the horizontal and vertical planes consisting of 32 transducer elements. The electrical phase difference was calculated by cross-spectral density analysis for the signals from the pair of receiving transducer quadrants, and the directivity correction factor for a developed split-beam transducer was estimated as the fourth-order polynomial of the off-axis beam angle for the angular location of the target. The experimental results demonstrate that the distance between the acoustic centers for the pair of receiving transducer quadrants can be controlled to less than one wavelength by optimization with amplitude-weighting transformers, and a smaller center spacing provides a range of greater angular location for tracking of a fish target. In particular, a side lobe level of -25.2 dB and an intercenter spacing of $0.96\lambda$($\lambda$= wavelength) obtained in this study suggest that the angular location of fish targets distributing within a range of approximately ${\pm}28^{\circ}$ without interference from side lobes can be measured.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.413-422
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• 2011

An improved split-beam transducer for a 50 kHz fish-sizing echo sounder was developed. The main objective of this study was to minimize the side lobe level in the beam pattern and the distance between acoustic centers for adjacent transducer quadrants in the geometrical arrangement of array elements while maintaining a given number of transducer elements and beam width. To achieve these goals, a 32-element planar array transducer ($6{\times}6$ array with one element in each corner missing) was designed using the Dolph-Chebyshev shading function to suppress side lobes in the array beam pattern and fabricated by arranging the inter-element spacing to be substantially equal to half the wavelength using the transducer element of 0.4 times the wavelength in diameter. The performance characteristics of this split-beam transducer were evaluated in the experimental water tank of $5m{\times}5m{\times}6m$ (length${\times}$height${\times}$width). In this study, the design goal of the beam width and side lobe level for transmitting a beam pattern was initially set at $21^{\circ}$ and -30 dB, respectively. However, the measured beam width at 3 dB was $21^{\circ}$ in both directions with side lobe levels of -24.7 dB in the horizontal plane and -25.6 dB in the vertical plane. The averaged beam width at -3 dB of the receiving beam patterns for four receiving quadrants was $31.4^{\circ}$. The transmitting voltage response was 161.5 dB (re $1{\mu}Pa$/V at 1 m) at 50.23 kHz with a bandwidth of 2.16 kHz, and the averaged receiving sensitivity for four receiving quadrants was -178.13 dB (re 1 V/${\mu}Pa$) at 49.8 kHz with a bandwidth of 2.64 kHz.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.196-213
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• 2001

A split beam ultrasonic transducer operating at a frequency of 70 kHz to use in the fish sizing echo sounder was developed and the acoustic radiation characteristics were experimentally analyzed. The amplitude shading method utilizing the properties of the Chebyshev polynomials was used to obtain side lobe levels below -20 dB and to optimize the relationship between main beam width and side lobe level of the transducer, and the amplitude shading coefficient to each of the elements was achieved by changing the amplitude contribution of elements with 4 weighting transformers embodied in the planar array transducer assembly. The planar array split beam transducer assembly was composed of 36 piezoelectric ceramics (NEPEC N-21, Tokin) of rod type of 10 mm in diameter and 18.7 mm in length of 70 kHz arranged in the rectangular configuration, and the 4 electrical inputs were supplied to the beamformer. A series of impedance measurements were conducted to check the uniformity of the individual quadrants, and also in the configurations of reception and transmission, resonant frequency, and the transmitting and receiving characteristics were measured in the water tank and analyzed, respectively. The results obtained are summarized as follows : 1. Average resonant and antiresonant frequencies of electrical impedance for four quadrants of the split beam transducer in water were 69.8 kHz and 83.0 kHz, respectively. Average electrical impedance for each individual transducer quadrant was 49.2$\Omega$ at resonant frequency and 704.7$\Omega$ at antiresonant frequency. 2. The resonance peak in the transmitting voltage response (TVR) for four quadrants of the split beam transducer was observed all at 70.0 kHz and the value of TVR was all about 165.5 dB re 1 $\mu$Pa/V at 1 m at 70.0 kHz with bandwidth of 10.0 kHz between -3 dB down points. The resonance peak in the receiving sensitivity (SRT) for four combined quadrants (quad LU+LL, quad RU+RL, quad LU+RU, quad LL+RL) of the split beam transducer was observed all at 75.0 kHz and the value of SRT was all about -177.7 dB re 1 V/$\mu$Pa at 75.0 kHz with bandwidth of 10.0 kHz between -3 dB down points. The sum beam transmitting voltage response and receiving senstivity was 175.0 dB re 1$\mu$Pa/V at 1 m at 75.0 kHz with bandwidth of 10.0 kHz, respectively. 3. The sum beam of split beam transducer was approximately circular with a half beam angle of $9.0^\circ$ at -3 dB points all in both axis of the horizontal plane and the vertical plane. The first measured side lobe levels for the sum beam of split beam transducer were -19.7 dB at $22^\circ$ and -19.4 dB at $-26^\circ$ in the horizontal plane, respectively and -20.1 dB at $22^\circ$ and -22.0 dB at $-26^\circ$ in the vertical plane, respectively. 4. The developed split beam transducer was tested to estimate the angular position of the target in the beam through split beam phase measurements, and the beam pattern loss for target strength corrections was measured and analyzed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.173-183
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• 2010

In a split beam echo sounder, the transducer design needs to have minimal side lobes because the angular position and level of the side lobes establishes the usable signal level and phase angle limits for determining target strength. In order to suppress effectively the generation of unwanted side lobes in the directivity pattern of split beam transducer, the spacing and size of the transducer elements need to be controlled less than half of a wavelength. With this purpose, a 50 kHz tonpilz type transducer with a half-wavelength diameter in relation to the development of a split beam transducer was designed using the equivalent circuit model, and the underwater performance characteristics were measured and analyzed. From the in-air and in-water impedance responses, the measured value of the electro-acoustic conversion efficiency for the designed transducer was 51.6%. A maximum transmitting voltage response (TVR) value of 172.25dB re $1{\mu}Pa/V$ at 1m was achieved at 52.92kHz with a specially designed matching network and the quality factor was 10.3 with the transmitting bandwidth of 5.14kHz. A maximum receiving sensitivity (SRT) of -183.57dB re $1V/{\mu}Pa$ was measured at 51.45kHz and the receiving bandwidth at -3dB was 1.71kHz. These results suggest that the designed tonpilz type transducer can be effectively used in the development of a split beam transducer for a 50kHz fish sizing echo sounder.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.461-472
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• 2012

This study proposes an optics-based active sensing system for continuous monitoring of underground pipelines in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The proposed system generates and measures guided waves using a single laser source and optical cables. First, a tunable laser is used as a common power source for guided wave generation and sensing. This source laser beam is transmitted through an optical fiber, and the fiber is split into two. One of them is used to actuate macro fiber composite (MFC) transducers for guided wave generation, and the other optical fiber is used with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors to measure guided wave responses. The MFC transducers placed along a circumferential direction of a pipe at one end generate longitudinal and flexural modes, and the corresponding responses are measured using FBG sensors instrumented in the same configuration at the other end. The generated guided waves interact with a defect, and this interaction causes changes in response signals. Then, a damage-sensitive feature is extracted from the response signals using the axi-symmetry nature of the measured pitch-catch signals. The feasibility of the proposed system has been examined through a laboratory experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.340-347
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• 2015

The Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is utilized to manage krill resources using acoustic data collection and a scientific observer program operating on the fishing boats. However, the acoustic data were contained seriously noise, example of background, spike, and intermittent noise, due to purpose of fish boats. In this study, the noise removal techniques were confirmed the potential of the acoustic data analysis. Acoustic system and frequency used in the survey were commercial echosounder (ES70, SIMRAD) and 200 kHz split beam transducer. Acoustic data were analyzed using Echoview software (Myriax), and general data analysis and new noise removal method was used. Although a variety of noise, most of the noises have been removed using the noise removal processing. We confirmed the possibility of analyzing the acoustic data obtained from fish boats. The results will be useful for analysis of the acoustic data acquired from krill fishing boats.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.225-236
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• 2006

Seagrass meadows are considered as critical habitats for a wide variety of marine organisms in coastal and estuarine ecosystems. In many cases, studies on the spatial/temporal distribution of seagrass have depended on direct observations using SCUBA diving. As an alternative method fur studying seagrass distribution, an application of hydroacoustic technique has been assessed for mapping seagrass distribution in Dongdae Bay, on the south coast of Korea, in September 2005. Data were collected using high frequency transducer (420 kHz split-beam), which was installed with towed body system. The system was linked to DGPS to make goo-referenced data. Additionally, in situ seagrass distribution has been observed using underwater cameras and SCUBA diving at four stations in order to compare with acoustic data. Acoustic survey was conducted along 23 transects with 3-4 blot ship speed. Seagrass beds were vertically limited to depths less than 3.5m and seagrass height ranged between 55 and 90cm at the study sites. Dense seagmss beds were mainly found at the entrance of the bay and at a flat area around the center of the bay. Although the study area was a relatively small, the vertical and spatial distributions of the seagrass were highly variable with bathymetry and region. Considering dominant species, Zostera marina L., preliminary estimation of seagrass biomass with acoustic and direct sampling data was approximately $56.55g/m^2$, and total biomass of 104 tones (coefficient variation: 25.77%) was estimated at the study area. Hydroacoustic method provided valuable information to understand distribution pattern and to estimate seagrass biomass.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2008

Hydroacoustic technique was used to analyze spatiotemporal stability and distribution of demersal fish aggregations in the coastal region to overcome some limitations of the existing methods such as net and diving. The survey was carried out in the Baekeum Bay on the south coast of Korea in January 2007. The bottom depth in the study site ranges from 7 to 25 m. In order to outline aggregations of demersal fish initial scanning using 200 kHz split-beam transducer was randomly conducted over the large area. Having detected fish aggregation in the specific region, intensive acoustic survey of irregular star pattern was carried out along 14 transects across the area in question. The results of the acoustic survey show that all demersal fish aggregations are concentrated about 5 m from sea bottom having a slight slope and remain steady with no spatial or temporal variations during acoustic survey. The hydroacoustic method used in this study offers a new approach to understand vertical and horizontal distribution, spatiotemporal stability, and biomass estimate of demersal fish aggregations in coastal regions. Additionally, the number of individual fish estimated from in situ acoustic target strength data can be used to understand the standing stock of demersal fish aggregation.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.181-191
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• 2008

This study aims at assessment of spatio-temporal distribution of demersal fish aggregations near the west coast of Jeju Island using hydroacoustic survey. A 200 kHz split beam transducer attached to a small towed body was used for all acoustic investigations. The received acoustic data were in situ acoustic target strength (TS, dB) for all pings and nautical area scattering coefficient(NASC, $m^2/mile^2$) for 0.1 mile along 12 acoustic transects. Demersal fish aggregations are distributed around the coastal slope having 20 to 30 m depth throughout all seasons. The concentration is higher during the summer season. With regard spatial distribution, higher demersal fish aggregations have been detected near the West coast of Shinchang and especially near Chagwi-do. Pelagic fish aggregations were higher to the south of Chagwi-do during the spring season. Additionally, standing stock of demersal fish aggregations from the NASC data, TS function, and length-weight function of dominant species was estimated as follows: 3.2 ton (CV 21.8%) in December 2006, 17.9 ton (CV 21.6%) in April 2007, 30.8 ton (CV 17.8%) in June 2007, and 22.5 ton (CV 24.2%) in October 2007. The application of hydroacoustic methods offers a new approach to understanding spatiotemporal structure and estimate the biomass of demersal fish aggregations in the coastal area. And the results can be made up limitations of qualitative analysis through net and diving for fisheries resources survey in coastal area.