Predicting ocean motions and underwater sounds
Ocean variability — the perpetual changing of currents, temperatures, salinity and the contours of the seafloor — alters the way sound travels through the water. A new analysis of how this variability affects sound waves could make it easier for Navy submarines to evade detection or for remotely operated underwater vehicles, like those used to combat the recent Macondo oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to maneuver more accurately. It could also aid in basic oceanographic and climate research by helping to calibrate systems for using sound waves to measure ocean properties such as temperature and seafloor topography.The analysis was carried out by MIT researchers in collaboration with Taiwanese and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists. Using both theoretical computer models and on-site experiments off Taiwan and Kauai, they found unexpected changes in the way ocean and sound waves interact when they are emitted near the edge of a...