• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.2E
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• pp.30-45
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• 2001

This study considers the environmental factors affecting propagation loss and sonar performance in the continental regions of the East Coast Sea of Korea. Water mass distributions appear to change dramatically in a few weeks. Simple calculation with the case when the NKCW (North Korean Cold Water) develops shows that the difference in propagation loss may reach in the worst up to 10dB over range 5km. Another factor, an eddy, has typical dimensions of 100-200km in diameter and 150-200m in thickness. Employing a typical eddy and assuming frequency to be 100Hz, its effects on propagation loss appear to make lower the normal formation of convergence zones with which sonars are possible to detect long-range targets. The change of convergence zones may result in 10dB difference in received signals in a given depth. Thermal fronts also appear to be critical restrictions to operating sonars in shallow waters. Assuming frequency to be 200Hz, thermal fronts can make 10dB difference in propagation loss between with and without them over range 20km. An observation made in one site in the East Coast Sea of Korea reveals that internal waves may appear in near-inertial period and their spectra may exist in periods 2-17min. A simulation employing simple internal wave packets gives that they break convergence zones on the bottom, causing the performance degradation of FOM as much as 4dB in frequency 1kHz. An acoustic experiment, using fixed source and receiver at the same site, shows that the received signals fluctuate tremendously with time reaching up to 6.5dB in frequencies 1kHz or less. Ambient noises give negative effects directly on sonar performance. Measurements at some sites in the East Coast Sea of Korea suggest that the noise levels greatly fluctuate with time, for example noon and early morning, mainly due to ship traffics. The average difference in a day may reach 10dB in frequency 200Hz. Another experiment using an array of hydrophones gives that the spectrum levels of ambient noises are highly directional, their difference being as large as 10dB with vertical or horizontal angles. This fact strongly implies that we should obtain in-situ information of noise levels to estimate reasonable sonar performance. As one of non-stationary noise sources, an eel may give serious problems to sonar operation on or under the sea bottoms. Observed eel noises in a pier of water depth 14m appear to have duration time of about 0.4 seconds and frequency ranges of 0.2-2.8kHz. The 'song'of an eel increases ambient noise levels to average 2.16dB in the frequencies concerned, being large enough to degrade detection performance of the sonars on or below sediments. An experiment using hydrophones in water and sediment gives that sensitivity drops of 3-4dB are expected for the hydrophones laid in sediment at frequencies of 0.5-1.5kHz. The SNR difference between in water and in sediment, however, shows large fluctuations rather than stable patterns with the source-receiver ranges.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.223-231
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• 2018

Recently, due to various environmental problems, blast tracks in tunnel are replaced with concrete tracks, but they have more adverse effects on noise than blast tracks so that additional noise measures are needed. Among these measures, sound-absorbing blocks start to be used due to its easy and quick installation. However, the performance of sound absorption blocks need to be verified under real environmental and operational conditions. In this paper, interior noise levels in KTX train cruising in Dalseong tunnel are measured before and after the installation of sound-absorbing blocks and the measured data are analyzed and compared. Additionally, noise reduction are estimated by modeling the high speed train, the tunnel and absorption blocks. Measurement devices and methods are used according to ISO 3381 and the equivalent sound pressure levels during the cruising time inside the tunnel are computed. In addition to overall SPLs(Sound Pressure Levels), 1/3-octave-band levels are also analyzed to account for the frequency characteristics of sound absorption and equipment noise in a cabin. In addition, to consider the effects of train cruising speeds and environmental conditions on the measurements, the measured data are corrected by using those measured during the train-passing through the tunnels located before and behind the Dalseong tunnel. Analysis of measured results showed that the maximum noise reduction of 6.8 dB (A) can be achieved for the local region where the sound-absorbing blocks are installed. Finally, through the comparison of predicted 1/3-octave band SPLs for the KTX interior noise with the measurements, the understanding of noise reduction mechanism due to sound-absorbing blocks is enhanced.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.261-271
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• 2016

In the prediction of response of a pile in soil, numerical approaches such as a finite element method are generally applied due to complicate nonlinear behaviors of soils. However, the numerical methods based on the finite elements require heavy efforts in pile and soil modelling and also take long computing time. So their usage is limited especially in the early design stage in which principal dimensions and properties are not specified and tend to vary. On the contrary, theoretical approaches adopting linear approximations for soils are relatively simple and easy to model and take short computing time. Therefore, if they are validated to be reliable, they would be applicable in predicting responses of a pile in soil, particularly in early design stage. In case of wind turbines regarded in this study, it is required to assess their natural frequencies in early stages, and in this simulation the supporting pile inserted in soil could be replaced with a simplified elastic boundary condition at the bottom end of the wind turbine tower. To do this, analysis for a pile in soil is performed in this study to extract the spring constants at the top end of the pile. The pile in soil can be modelled as a beam on elastic spring by assuming that the soils deform within an elastic range. In this study, it is attempted to predict pile deformations and influence factors for lateral loads by means of the beam-on-spring model. As two example supporting structures for wind turbines, mono pile and suction pile models with different diameters are examined by evaluating their influence factors and validated by comparing them with those reported in literature. In addition, the deflection profiles along the depth and spring constants at the top end of the piles are compared to assess their supporting features.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1-13
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to consider practical examples of the method of utilizing plant material 'lotus' used by the ancients, and the value and meaning they wanted to get from it. The method of this study to do this is descriptive study to consider and interpret poem and painting reflecting impression and concept world of lotus. Summary of this study is as follows. First, ornamental value of lotus could be divided in effect of group plant and detail value held by the flower, the leaves and the stem. Especially, group plant lotus in large site provides unique landscape differentiated form other flowering plants. As well, another feature of lotus is its high ornamental value spread in detail elements including the flower, the leaves, the stem and the lotus seed. Second, fragrance expressed 'Hyang-won-ik-cheong(香遠益淸)' is an important charm of lotus. Lotus was utilized as olfactory element providing fragrance. The ancients considered lotus fragrance not only for enjoy but as symbolic object comparing noble man's dignity so that they expressed it in poem and painting. Third, lotus was utilized as acoustical element. That is, the sound of raindrops harmonizing the surface of water and wide lotus leaves was called 'hearing lotus fond and rain', enjoying it as classic grace. Fourth, summer play lotus sightseeing was called mind wash up meaning 'washing the mind polluted by the mundane world'. Such poetic taste was widely enjoyed by various classes from general public to royal family. Besides, poetic taste related with lotus is the method of drinking alcohol using the feature of big lotus leave and vacant stem, called 'Beog-tong-ju(碧筒酒)'. And in the Joseon dynasty period, when the distinction between the man and the woman influenced by Confucian, lotus seed and 'lotus collecting song' was important sign to express romance between man and woman. Lotus has been enamored by wide classes transcending cultural background as thought and religion since ancient times. Due to such reasons, various symbolic meaning of lotus and planting examples related to religious facilities as temples could not be considered in various manner is limitation of this study, and which is research project for the future.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.603-616
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• 2023

In this study, machine learning-based clustering and classification of residential noise in apartment buildings was conducted using frequency and temporal characteristics. First, a residential noise source dataset was constructed . The residential noise source dataset was consisted of floor impact, airborne, plumbing and equipment noise, environmental, and construction noise. The clustering of residential noise was performed by K-Means clustering method. For frequency characteristics, L_eq and L_max values were derived for 1/1 and 1/3 octave band for each sound source. For temporal characteristics, Leq values were derived at every 6 ms through sound pressure level analysis for 5 s. The number of k in K-Means clustering method was determined through the silhouette coefficient and elbow method. The clustering of residential noise source by frequency characteristic resulted in three clusters for both L_eq and L_max analysis. Temporal characteristic clustered residential noise source into 9 clusters for L_eq and 11 clusters for L_max. Clustering by frequency characteristic clustered according to the proportion of low frequency band. Then, to utilize the clustering results, the residential noise source was classified using three kinds of machine learning. The results of the residential noise classification showed the highest accuracy and f1-score for data labeled with L_eq values in 1/3 octave bands, and the highest accuracy and f1-score for classifying residential noise sources with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model using both frequency and temporal features, with 93 % accuracy and 92 % f1-score.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.343-355
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• 2009

In order to restore the identity of sound environment and expand the sound culture of a region, the purpose of this study are to excavate the resources of soundscape and find out the plans for the preservation and promotion of soundscape resources peculiar to the region. For this purpose, this research is conducted through an interview survey of residents and an observation survey using listening walk in Hongdo, one of the southwesten island of Korea. The results of survey confirm that there are so many sounds to hear around Hongdo island, those are, natural sounds such as the song of the birds, the roar of the waves, the whistling sounds, the shriek of the seagulls, and the pebbles sounds washed away by the waves, and artificial sounds such as the steam-whistle signals, the ship's broadcasts, the voice of tourists, the sounds of church bells, lighthouse sirens etc. The results suggest that it is necessary to consider several ways for restoration of an unique soundscape in Hongdo island, those are, improvement for efficient management of a ship's broadcasts in public areas, removal of a ferry in Hongdo swimming beach, management of Dangsanje (a religious service), preservation of a lighthouse siren and a foghorn, restoration and improvement of underground stream, management and control of public fish market, restoration of brooklet, management of cooperative system for a fish market, restoration of PoongO-Gut (a ritual for a large harvest) and a skate festival, management of a Hongdo sports meeting, sound quality modification of a boat whistle, restoration of orientalia such as a funeral bier, ecosystem preservation activity of the shore and ocean, and promotion of amenity for fascination and vitality in a rural community. Also, a sound map is drawn up for many tourists so as to realize the importance of sound environment and identity of soundscape and to gain their experience at first hand in Hongdo island.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.534-541
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• 2009

Word recognition test (WRT) for the children can be useful for diagnosing the degree of communication disability, prescribing hearing instruments, planning aural rehabilitation and speech therapy, and determination of site of lesions. The Korean standard monosyllabic word lists for preschoolers (KS-MWL-P) were developed considering the criteria given by the literatures. However, the authors of KS-MWL-P suggested more children should be included to verify homogeneity of the lists using psychometric function curve since only 8 children participated in the developing process. The purpose of this study was to explore the homogeneity of KS-MWL-P for supplementing the limitations of the lists employing psychometric analysis. To 23 preschoolers who have normal-hearing, 100 monosyllabic KS-MWL-P words were examined with the pictures. Psychometric function curve with linear slopes of 20% and 80%'s correct rates through accounting recognition scores of each monosyllabic word at variable intensities from -10 to 40 dBHL was obtained and analyzed. As a result, s-shaped psychometric function curve was presented with increasing correct rate depending on intensity and showed no statistical significant differences among each word and list. The congruous graph shapes among lists also indicated good homogeneity and the list 1,2,3,4's average slopes were 4.48, 3.86, 4.65, 4.50. It was verified that the homogeneity was suitable because the analysis of variance showed no statistical significance among lists (p>0.05). However, KS-MWL-P's order of slope according to the order of the number of items, $1{\sim}10$, $1{\sim}20$, $1{\sim}25$ showed no difference with the p-value of 0.93, 0.59, 0.91, 0.70 for the lists 1,2,3, and 4, respectively. Although KS-MWL-P was assumed that the lower-numbered items were easy for testing younger ages, this study's results could not agree with the author's conclusion. Considering this matter, rearranging of the number of items should be performed according to the analysis of slope suggested by this study for testing younger children with easier items. Other than this, in conclusion, KS-MWL-P was proved to be useful for clinical and rehabilitative evaluating and training tools for preschoolers.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2024

The importance of active sonar systems is emerging due to the quietness of underwater targets and the increase in ambient noise due to the increase in maritime traffic. However, the low signal-to-noise ratio of the echo signal due to multipath propagation of the signal, various clutter, ambient noise and reverberation makes it difficult to identify underwater targets using active sonar. Attempts have been made to apply data-based methods such as machine learning or deep learning to improve the performance of underwater target recognition systems, but it is difficult to collect enough data for training due to the nature of sonar datasets. Methods based on mathematical modeling have been mainly used to compensate for insufficient active sonar data. However, methodologies based on mathematical modeling have limitations in accurately simulating complex underwater phenomena. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a sonar signal synthesis method based on a deep neural network. In order to apply the neural network model to the field of sonar signal synthesis, the proposed method appropriately corrects the attention-based encoder and decoder to the sonar signal, which is the main module of the Tacotron model mainly used in the field of speech synthesis. It is possible to synthesize a signal more similar to the actual signal by training the proposed model using the dataset collected by arranging a simulated target in an actual marine environment. In order to verify the performance of the proposed method, Perceptual evaluation of audio quality test was conducted and within score difference -2.3 was shown compared to actual signal in a total of four different environments. These results prove that the active sonar signal generated by the proposed method approximates the actual signal.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2009

Generally, implantable microphone has been implanted in the temporal bone for implantable middle ear hearing devices (IMEHDs). In this case, the microphone's membrane can be damaged and can be generated biological noise. In order to overcome the these problems, the location of implanted microphone should be changed. As an alternative, the microphone can be implanted in the external auditory canal. However, the sound emission can be produced because of vibration transducer toward reverse direction from the tympanic membrane to the external auditory canal. In this paper, an amount of the emitted sound is measured using a probe microphone as the changing the position of microphone in the external auditory canal of a physical ear model, which is similar to acoustical and vibratory properties of the human ear. Through the measured value, the location of the microphone was assumed in the external auditory canal. According to the analysis, the microphone input sound can be decreased when microphone position become more distance from the tympanic membrane in the auditory canal. However, the external auditory canal is not appropriated to implantable microphone position, because sound emission is not completely eliminated.