TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Acknowledgements ……………………………………………. 1

• Introduction……………………………………………………...2

• Activities…………………………………………………….......3

• Project: Propagation Loss in a Shallow Water Wave Guide…...6

• Theory……………………………………………..6

• Model Introduction………………………………...7

• Calculating and Obtaining the Output…………….10

• Output Graphs……………………………………...13

• The Learning Process……………………………………………16

• Bibliography……………………………………………………..17
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr.Satheesh C. Shenoi, the director of NIOT, for giving me the
opportunity to intern at the Institution.

I extend my thanks to Dr.G.Latha, Scientist-F, Project Head, for supervising me during the
project execution.

My sincere and heartfelt gratitude to Mr.S.Najeem, Project Scientist, for acting as my in-
charge and offering a step-by-step guidance and clarification in all the concepts regarding my
project. He was of immense help and pivotal in aiding to execute the task in hand, without
any hiccups.

I also express my thanks towards Mrs.A.Malarkodi, Mr.M.M Mahanty, Mr. Sridhar,

I thank all the staff members, who made me feel welcome in the Institution and settle down a
lot easier.

INTRODUCTION:
As an aspiring researcher, it was important for me, to be able to get an internship to gain
some experience in the field of research. The opportunity to learn something valuable and
interesting doesn’t come around too often. I consider myself to be very lucky, to been able to
obtain such an opportunity offered from an accredited institution like NIOT.

I was allotted two weeks, to undertake a project and complete it by furnishing an internship
report, discussing my progress and my accomplishments within the two weeks. My In-charge
Mr.S.Najeem was helpful in guiding me towards the completion of the task. The project was
to model the oceanic parameters using ambient noise, my responsibility was to determine the
transmission loss occurring due to sound propagation in shallow waters. This transmission
loss can then be implemented to calculate the ambient noise, using the formula,

R.L=S.L-T.L

Where

S.L -> Source Level

R.L-> Received Loss;

T.L ->Transmission Loss due to surface and bottom-interaction of waves

The transmission loss in a shallow water duct was calculated using a model, which required a
an input file and a predefined sound speed profile. The sound speed profile was assumed for
shallow water regions along the coast of Chennai and the inputs included surface, source,
receiver parameters, which will be discussed in detail under ‘Model Introduction’.

There are clear explanations on the process of inputting into the model, and calculating and
obtaining the output. To make the output more comprehensible, we will be plotting the data
points as a contour and a 2-D plotline using MATLAB. We will also be preparing a
MATLAB script to implement it.

The Transmission loss data thus plotted, will be used in future for further studying the given
ocean environment and measuring the ambient noise to get to know about the properties of
certain shallow water duct. The study can be further extended to differentiate the different
ambient noise sources by comparing them with a predefined transmission loss model.
I will also be sharing my experience of working here, and listing my activities and tasks in a
chronological manner.

ACTVITIES SUMMARY:

During the first week, I was required to read through some materials to provide an
introduction for me in basic Shallow Water Acoustics. The book, “Computational Ocean
Acoustics” was immensely helpful in establishing a concrete understanding of the concept of
ocean acoustics and how it’s various aspects are mathematically modelled and applied.

I learnt about the different methods of sound propagation in water. And the book was clear
and concise in explaining the complex mathematical (yet important) concepts, that interprets
the physical phenomenon into a numerical model. Such numerical models can be further used
to predict and analyze further similar occurrences, which can provide us with parameters like,
sound attenuation, reflection and transmission coefficients of both the surface and bottom
layer, sound wave trajectory and so on.

I would also like to give a special mention to an article titled “Underwater Ambient Noise”
published in Acoustics Today, which discussed about the methods and importance of
determining oceanic parameters using ambient noise.

Since my task was to derive the ambient noise using a transmission loss model, it required a
basic knowledge and understanding of MATLAB programming software. I spent a
considerable amount of time, learning the program, thanks to help from my In-charge. Within
a couple of days, I was able to code and plot data with ease.

As a part of my reading, a field report on ambient noise station establishment along the east
and west coast of India was provided, to provide clarity on the data mining process. The
Data, so obtained, will be used as input to the propagation model and obtain the transmission
loss, which in turn will be used to find Ambient noise.

Apart from my progress in the Internship front, I also found time to take a look around the
NIOT campus. I was impressed to find out how well it was maintained and how stringent the
security measures were. The manner in which the staff welcomed me in a warm fashion and
helped me settle down comfortably into the new work atmosphere is also notable.

Such details are not pertinent to my tasks in hand, but nevertheless they were helpful for a
first-timer like me, to get rid of the anxiety and nervousness and concentrate on my job.

Entering into the second week of my internship, I got a wonderful opportunity to attend a
workshop hosted by the ‘Acoustic Testing Facility’. ATF basically provides a environment
for testing equipment, which are used then used for establishing, stations to measure ambient
noise, RF communication systems and other such sub-surface systems.

It was a two-day workshop and on the first day various presentations were made, which
introduced the activities done by the ATF.A detailed explanation of the RF, GSM
communication systems, which transmit data from the receiving equipment in the sea to an
offshore station. The disambiguation of the entire system, part by part, was explained in a
detailed manner. Bio-acoustics was another section of the workshop, which gave an in-depth
analysis into detecting animal behavioral patterns using their production of sounds. A
predefined acoustic model is compared with the obtained data, to determine the species, the
migration patterns, and the behavior of the animal.

An insight into the development of vector sensors was provided. Since vector sensors have an
advantage of measuring the pressure and particle acceleration of sound compared to the
hydrophone, which can only measure the magnitude of acoustic pressure. The procedure to
install the vector sensors was depicted beautifully. The testing operation of the final array of
vector sensors was done at Idukki. Working mechanism of the vector sensors and the
shortcomings of such an arrangement was also discussed.

Another presentation offered cognizance of the role of ambient noise in detecting oceanic
parameters. The different models used to determine the ambient noise was also put forth. And
finally, a tour displaying various equipment used in the sub surface systems, like
hydrophones, surface floats, the data collector etc. The various specifications of the
equipments were also shared.

The 2nd day of the workshop highlighted the important concept of hydrophone calibration.
The ATF’s primary project is comparing the hydrophones for quality, using a water tank and
making two transducers act as a source and the receiver. The facility also offers the freedom
for the hydrophone to be positioned precisely, due to the 3-dimensional positioning system,
enabled by combination of servo and induction motors. The presentation also displayed how
data is mined from the calibration chamber. Where the data-mining apparatus, compare and
contrast the sounds received by the hydrophones with a predefined profile to determine the
quality.

The rest of the week was spent on coding and applying my theoretical knowledge, which I
obtained from the previous week, in determining the ambient noise in shallow water, using a
transmission loss model, which will be explained in the next segment of this report.