Azimuthal Dependence of Sound Backscattered from the Sea Surface

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Abstract
The dependence on azimuthal angle of acoustic sea‐surface reverberation is investigated at 60 kHz, utilizing a three‐axis rotationally stabilized conical‐beam transducer. Measurements of backscattering strength in the upwind and crosswind directions are compared for a range of grazing angles from 10° to 40°. Polar plots of scattering strength versus azimuthal angle are presented for wind speeds from 4 to 13 kt. An attempt is made to correlate the backscattering measurements with swell and local wind‐driven waves by means of aerial sea‐state photographs taken during the test. Data indicate that surface reverberation has a pronounced dependence on azimuthal angle at wind speeds below about 9 kt, but becomes independent of azimuthal angle at higher wind speeds.

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