Probing the underwater acoustic communication channel off Rottnest Island, Western Australia

Abstract

The emerging field of underwater acoustic communication networks is under-pinned by accurate knowledge on the timevarying distortion of acoustic signals by the ocean. This paper reports on time-varying underwater acoustic channel responses measured over ranges of 100m to 10km in 50m deep water south-west of Rottnest Island, Western Australia, for 9-15kHz band signals. The channel response measurement techniques are described, including post-processing by correlative channel probing. The measured channel response spreading function is presented which conveys the spectrum of Doppler frequency shifts imparted by the ocean environment to transmitted data signals.