Communicate Underwater

Have you ever tried talking to your friends underwater? If so, you have discovered that it didn't work very well. Even though sound travels well in water, our vocal cords are not designed to generate underwater sound. How, then, can people use sound to communicate underwater?

Scuba divers use hand signals and writing slates to communicate with their buddies. Photo courtesy of Stacy Kim, NSF Antarctic Biology Class. Scuba divers are trained to use hand signals to communicate with their buddies. They also use underwater writing boards, which allow for better communication. Both of these techniques require light, however. But what if the water is murky? Or if it is nighttime? Or if the divers are too far apart to see one another clearly? Is it somehow possible to use sound instead? Special underwater communication systems have been developed to allow divers to talk to each other underwater. A transducer is attached to the diver's face mask, which converts his or her voice into an ultrasound signal. A fellow diver has an ultrasound receiver, which accepts the signal and converts it back to a sound that the diver can hear, allowing for communication. The same system can be used for communication between the diver and a surface ship.

Acoustic

communication

systems allow divers to talk to each other underwater. Image courtesy of Divelink. An acoustic modem is used to transmit data underwater, much as telephone modems are used to transmit data over phone lines. An acoustic modem converts digital data into special underwater sound signals. These signals are then received by a second acoustic modem and converted back into digital data. Acoustic modems can be used for underwater telemetry, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) command and control, diver communications, underwater monitoring and data logging, and other applications requiring underwater wireless communications.

Courtesy of Link-Quest Inc. Introduction People use sound in the ocean for a wide variety of purposes. Many important everyday activities, such as fishing, depend on sound for success. This tutorial introduces a variety of technologies for measuring and employing sound in the ocean. Additional content about how people use sound in the ocean is available in the People and Sound section, and additional information about technology used in the ocean in available in the Technology Gallery.

Hydrophone

Receiver

A hydrophone is an underwater listening device. Just as a microphone is used to detect sound in the air, a hydrophone detects sounds in the water and converts the acoustic energy into electrical energy. Hydrophones listen to sounds in the sea, but do not transmit any sound, making them passive listening devices.

Most hydrophones are made from a piezoelectric material. This material produces small electrical charges when exposed to pressure changes. The pressure changes associated with a sound wave can be detected by a piezoelectric element. Under the pressure of a sound wave, the piezoelectric element flexes and in return gives off electrical signals. These electrical signals can be recorded and later analyzed with computer programs.

Photograph of a standard hydrophone. The upper picture is the preamplifier. The center picture is the ceramic element/preamplifier assembly (the preamplifier is housed inside the ceramic element). The lower picture is the final product that is encapsulated in urethane. Photo courtesy of Adrienne Spychalski, High Tech, Inc. (http://home.att.net/~hightechinc/) Hydrophones are specially designed for underwater use. They are normally encased in a rubber boot to provide protection from seawater. Hydrophones can be mounted in several different ways. They can be attached to a boat, towed, or placed in a fixed position underwater. A hydrophone array is made up of a number of hydrophones placed in known locations. These hydrophones maybe placed in a line on the seafloor, moored in a vertical line in the water column, or towed in a horizontal line behind a boat or ship, for example. Sound arriving at the array from a distant source, such as a submarine, will reach each hydrophone at slightly different times, depending on the direction from which the sound is coming. This time difference is known as the time-of-arrival-difference and can be turned into a direction. Using this information from all the hydrophones in the array, the direction from which the sound is coming can be pinpointed.

A hydrophone array can be towed behind a ship or placed on the seafloor. In this image, sound is transmitted by the ship and reflected off the submerged submarine. The reflected sound reaches hydrophone A first, then hydrophone B, and finally hydrophone C. The time-of-arrival-difference between the hydrophones in the array is used to determine the direction to the submarine. Copyright University of Rhode Island. Projector (Sound Source) Just as a loudspeaker is used to produce sound in air, an acoustic projector or sound source is used to generate sound underwater. Loudspeakers convert electrical signals into sound in air. Similarly, acoustic projectors convert electrical signals into sound in water. Sounds can be made by vibrating an object. For example, when a drumstick hits a drum, the flexible skin of the drum vibrates up and down. The skin's vibration makes a sound by moving the air above it. When the skin moves up, the air above it is compressed and when the skin moves down the air moves with it and expands. The compressing and expanding of the air produces differences in air pressure. The pressure differences in the air move away from the drum surface like ripples in a pond, creating a sound wave. This is how the drum produces a sound that we can hear.

Underwater sound sources (may also be called a transducer) can be built in a number of different ways. Some underwater sound sources work the same way as loudspeakers in a home stereo system. They have a speaker that is vibrated using an electromagnet. Other sound sources create vibrations with special materials that expand and contract when electricity runs through them. Still other sound sources work much like a drum being played from the inside. A sound source or projector is used to create sound to do such tasks as find fish, navigate, measure water depth, and communicate underwater.

The large circular object in the center of this image is an acoustic projector that is being deployed from a ship. The walls of the projector vibrate to make sound, similar to how

a drum works. The sounds generated by this projector were used to measure the ocean temperature during acoustic tomography experiments. Photo courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Small individual projectors can also be used together to create directional beams. These are called projector arrays. In a projector array, all of the individual projectors transmit at the same time to generate directional beams. The arrays are designed so that the sound waves generated by each of the array elements add together in the direction that the sound is wanted, but do not add together in other directions Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) is a technology that uses acoustical waves to sense the location of objects in the ocean. The simplest sonar devices send out a sound pulse from a transducer, and then precisely measure the time it takes for the sound pulses to be reflected back to the transducer. The distance to an object can be calculated using this time difference and the speed of sound in the water (approximately 1,500 meters per second). More sophisticated sonar systems can provide additional direction and range information. Sonar was developed during World War I as an aid in finding both submarines and icebergs. Major improvements were made on this technology during World War II, and eventually scientists adapted the highly sensitive equipment for use in oceanographic research.

Active sonar. Copyright University of Rhode Island Click either choice below to hear the sonar:
QuickTime (52K)

This recording is of an active sonar that is tracking a close target. Sound courtesy of J & A Enterprises. There are two types of sonar: active and passive. Passive sonar is a listening device only; sound waves produced by another source are received and changed into electrical signals for display on a monitor. Active sonar, on the other hand, sends out sound waves in pulses; scientists then measure the time it takes these pulses to travel through the water, reflect off of an object, and return to the ship. Because scientists know how fast sound travels through water, they can easily calculate the distance between their ship and the object they are interested in, such as a ship or animal. They can also use the return echo to identify the object that the sound reflected off of. Whales, dolphins, and bats use echolocation, a natural type of sonar, in order to identify and locate their prey. These animals emit "clicks," sounds that are reflected back when they hit an object. Measure Water Depth

Echosounders calculate water depth by measuring the time it takes for the acoustic signal to reach the bottom and the echo to return to the ship. (Courtesy of Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command) The depths of the ocean have been charted since the early days of sailing using a method called sounding which used a weight on the end of a rope to estimate water depth. The invention of sonar changed the way that the seafloor is mapped. A combined transmitter and receiver, called a transducer, sends a sound pulse straight down into the water. The pulse moves down through the water and bounces off the ocean bottom. The transducer is able to pick up the reflected sound. Computers precisely measure the time it takes for the sound pulse to reach the bottom and return. In shallow water the sound waves will return very fast and in deeper water it will take more time to receive the echoes. The depth of the ocean is calculated by knowing how fast sound travels in the water (approximately 1,500 meters per second). This method of seafloor mapping is called echosounding. Multibeam bathymetry sonar is the relatively recent successor to echo sounding. About 30 years ago, the Navy developed a new technology that uses many beams of sound at the same time to cover a large fan-shaped area of the ocean floor rather than just the small patch of seafloor that echo sounders cover. These multibeam systems can have more than 100 transducers, arranged in precise geometrical patterns, sending out a swath of sound that covers a distance on either side of the ship that is equal to

about two times the water depth. All of the signals that are sent out reach the seafloor and return at slightly different times. These signals are received and converted to water depths by computers, and then automatically plotted as bathymetric maps. The data acquired by multibeam systems are much more complex than single-beam surveys; this means higher resolution is possible, but also that more involved signal processing is necessary in order to interpret the data.

In each picture, the boat (in blue) is using an echo sounder to image the ocean floor. On the left is a single beam echo sounder, which only images a circle of the seafloor (in red). On the right is a multibeam echo sounder that observes a much larger portion of the seafloor (line in red). Photo Courtesy of NOAA Ocean Explorer Find Objects on the Sea Floor Sonar is used to find objects on the bottom of the ocean. Side scan sonar is one method used to look at the detail of the ocean floor. Side scan sonar instruments are towed behind ships and often called towfish or tow vehicles.

Photo courtesy of Associates, www.kleinsonar.com.

Klein

The instrument sends out a sonar signal in pulses at right angles to the direction the ship is moving (so it is "looking" sideways and down). The sonar signal is concentrated in a narrow band on both sides of the tow vehicle (See the diagram below).

The the bottom figure (black and white) shows the display anoperator would see. It is a plot of the reflectivity of the seafloor and any objects on the seafloor. Diagram courtesy of USGS Seafloor Mapping Technology group, woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/sfmapping.

Some of the sound sent out by the side scan sonar reflects off the seafloor and returns to the tow vehicle. The tow vehicle has sensitive hydrophones (also called receivers) which receive the returning sound. The signals from the hydrophone are sent to the ship for processing and an image is made showing the strength of the returned sound over the area the tow vehicle was sending the sound. The signal is often sent to a graphic recorder which makes an image. The darker parts or the image represent greater echo strength. The image below shows a typical side scan sonar trace. The middle of the image is the path of the tow vehicle. There is a black line (or two black lines) right in the middle of the image. This is actually the sound pulse sent out from the instrument which is immediately heard by the hydrophone on the instrument. The blank white space, moving out from the black lines, is the time it takes the sound to travel through the water. The first echo from the seafloor (or sometimes from the sea surface) is the next mark. Then echos from the seafloor and objects at greater and greater distances from the tow vehicle.

The patterns on the seafloor in this image are iceberg scour marks in the Beaufort Sea. Photo courtesy of Klein Associates, www.kleinsonar.com. Side scan sonar is very sensitive and can measure features on the ocean bottom smaller than 1 centimeter (less than 1/2 an inch). Typical uses of side scan sonar include: looking for objects on the seafloor (sunken ships, pipelines, downed aircraft, lost cargo), detailed mapping of the seafloor, investigation of seafloor properties (grain size, etc) and looking at special features on the seafloor like underwater volcanos.

Communicate Underwater
Have you ever tried talking to your friends underwater? If so, you have discovered that it didn't work very well. Even though sound travels well in water, our vocal cords are not designed to generate underwater sound. How, then, can people use sound to communicate underwater?

Scuba divers use hand signals and writing slates to communicate with their buddies. Photo courtesy of Stacy Kim, NSF Antarctic Biology Class. Scuba divers are trained to use hand signals to communicate with their buddies. They also use underwater writing boards, which allow for better communication. Both of these techniques require light, however. But what if the water is murky? Or if it is nighttime? Or if the divers are too far apart to see one another clearly? Is it somehow possible to use sound instead? Special underwater communication systems have been developed to allow divers to talk to each other underwater. A transducer is attached to the diver's face mask, which converts his or her voice into an ultrasound signal. A fellow diver has an ultrasound receiver, which accepts the signal and converts it back to a sound that the diver can hear, allowing for communication. The same system can be used for communication between the diver and a surface ship.

Acoustic

communication

systems allow divers to talk to each other underwater. Image courtesy of Divelink. An acoustic modem is used to transmit data underwater, much as telephone modems are used to transmit data over phone lines. An acoustic modem converts digital data into special underwater sound signals. These signals are then received by a second acoustic modem and converted back into digital data. Acoustic modems can be used for underwater telemetry, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) command and control, diver communications, underwater monitoring and data logging, and other applications requiring underwater wireless communications.

Courtesy of Link-Quest Inc.