An overview of underwater sound generated by interparticle collisions and its application to the measurements of coarse sediment bedload transport

摘要

Over the past 2 to 3 decades the concept of using sound generated bythe interparticle collisions of mobile bed material has been investigated toassess if underwater sound can be utilised as a proxy for the estimation ofbedload transport. In principle the acoustic approach is deemed to have thepotential to provide non-intrusive, continuous, high-temporal-resolutionmeasurements of bedload transport. It has been considered that the intensityof the sound radiated should be related to the amount of mobile material andthe frequency spectrum to the size of the material. To be able to fullyrealise this use of acoustics requires an understanding of the parameterswhich control the generation of sound as particles impact. In the presentwork the aim is to provide scientists developing acoustics to measurebedload transport with a description of how sound is generated whenparticles undergo collision underwater. To investigate the properties of thesound generated, examples are provided under different conditions of impact.It is considered that providing an overview of the origins of the soundgeneration will provide a basis for the interpretation of acoustic data,collected in the marine environment for the study of bedload sedimenttransport processes.