earth-sciences

Ocean Acoustics & Underwater Sound

The physics of sound in the sea — SOFAR channel propagation, sonar equation analysis, acoustic tomography of ocean temperature, ambient noise spectra, and underwater ray tracing through layered sound-speed profiles.

ocean acousticsunderwater soundSOFAR channelsonaracoustic tomographyambient noiseray tracing

Ocean acoustics studies how sound propagates through seawater, where it travels nearly five times faster than in air and can be guided thousands of kilometers by natural waveguides. The ocean's layered temperature and salinity structure bends, focuses, and scatters acoustic waves in ways that enable submarine detection, underwater communication, and remote sensing of ocean climate.

These simulations let you explore the SOFAR channel waveguide, balance the sonar equation for target detection, reconstruct ocean temperature via acoustic tomography, analyze ambient noise from wind and shipping, and trace sound rays through realistic ocean profiles — bringing the hidden acoustic landscape of the deep sea to life.

5 interactive simulations

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Ocean Acoustic Tomography

Simulate acoustic tomography of the ocean — send sound pulses between transceiver pairs and reconstruct temperature fields from travel time perturbations

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Ocean Ambient Noise Spectrum

Simulate the ocean ambient noise spectrum — explore how wind speed, shipping density, sea state, and rain contribute to the underwater noise floor across frequency

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Underwater Acoustic Ray Tracing

Simulate acoustic ray tracing in a layered ocean — launch sound rays at various angles and watch them refract through the sound speed profile, revealing shadow zones and convergence zones

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SOFAR Channel & Deep Sound Propagation

Simulate the SOFAR (Sound Fixing and Ranging) channel — explore how the ocean's sound speed minimum traps acoustic energy and allows propagation over thousands of kilometers

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Sonar Equation & Detection Range

Simulate the sonar equation — balance source level, transmission loss, target strength, noise level, and detection threshold to determine maximum sonar detection range