Acoustic propagation and reverberation in shallow water with a gassy bottom: Experiments in the Sea of Galilee and preliminary data analysis

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2020-10, Vol.148 (4), p.2687-2687
• Main Authors: Lunkov, Andrey, Katsnelson, Boris, Ivakin, Anatoliy N., Katsman, Regina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.5147440

Broadband (200—2000 Hz) pulses were transmitted by an omnidirectional source in a shallow lake (Sea of Galilee, Israel, ~40 m depth) in several experiments during last five years. Data analysis and modeling results are presented for acoustic pressure received by a vertical line array located at an anchored station in the deepest place of the lake. Received signal was comprised of a series of arrivals followed by reverberation codas. Modeling of the propagation showed that arrival peaks' magnitudes are controlled by bottom reflectivity affected mostly by averaged (horizontally) acoustic parameters of the gassy sediment. Analysis of reverberation codas can provide further information about random spatial distribution of gas bubbles in the sediment layer and, also, about bottom roughness. Possibilities of inversions for water column and gassy bottom parameters based on these and future experiments are discussed. [Work supported by RFBR, BSF, and ONR.]