Browsing by Subject "Compressional"

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Sediment characterization using in situ measurements of acoustic properties
(2018-08-17) Dubin, Justin Thomas; Wilson, Preston S.; Ballard, Megan S.; Lee, Kevin Michael, 1977-
Three related studies associated with the acoustics of marine sediments were performed and described here. The first study was a direct exploration of the microscopic properties of marine sediment collected in the field. High-resolution images, acquired through scanning electron microscopy, are presented alongside sediment analysis and in situ sound speed data in order to better understand the affect microscopic geometries have on acoustic propagation in naturally occurring marine sediment. This microscopy work is followed by a description of the apparatus, methodology, and results from a field experiment conducted in a shallow water seagrass-bearing environment in which the acoustic properties of both the seagrass canopy and underlying sediment were measured in situ. The results are compared to predictions from several effective medium models to help explain the observed propagation behavior. The final study in this thesis describes acoustic directivity characterization for the compressional wave transducer probes used to collect in situ data presented in the previous studies as well as for a re-designed pair of prototype probes. These laboratory measurements are compared to both analytical and finite element models.