ASA 130th Meeting - St. Louis, MO - 1995 Nov 27 .. Dec 01

1aAO5. Upcoming field experiment examining media effects on synthetic aperture sonar---Experimental considerations and preliminary design.

Kevin L. Williams

Terry E. Ewart

Frank S. Henyey

Daniel Rouseff

Stephen A. Reynolds

James Grochocinski

Appl. Phys. Lab., Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105

Ocean variability imposes limitations on performance of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) systems. An experiment to examine these limitations will be carried out in conjunction with the Coastal Mixing and Optics program. The talk begins with a description of the environment anticipated, based on historical data. Using this environmental information, the effects of refraction, internal waves, and turbulence are shown. Acoustic wavefront curvature caused by internal waves is a primary concern. These results have driven the design of the experimental apparatus. An overview of this apparatus is presented. [Work supported by ONR.]