Acoustical characteristics of snapping shrimp noise measured during SAVEX 15 and its use as a natural source to estimate sea surface properties

The Shallow-water Acoustic Variability Experiment (SAVEX15) was conducted at a site in the Northern East China Sea (ECS), about 100 km off the southwest of Jeju Island, Korea in May 2015. The purpose of SAVEX15 was to obtain acoustic and environmental data for studying on oceanography, underwater communication, and acoustic propagation characteristics in the ECS. The experiment utilized a vertical line array (VLA) of 16 elements spanning 56.25 m of a 100 m water column. During the experiment, a large number of unintended snapping shrimp noises were recorded by the receiving system. In this talk, the acoustic properties of the snapping shrimp noise are presented. In addition, these noises are used as natural acoustic sources to estimate the sea surface properties from the sea-surface bounced paths. Finally, the results are compared with the sea surface conditions collected by a wave buoy operated during the experimental period. [This work was jointly supported by KRISO, KIOST, MPL, and ONR, and partially supported by ADD, Korea.]