METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AFFECTING ARCTIC SOUND PROPAGATION

• Main Authors: Batten,E. S., Schutz,C.
• Other Authors: RAND CORP SANTA MONICA CALIF
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1968
• Subjects: Meteorology; Acoustics; (*METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA; *ARCTIC REGIONS); (*SOUND TRANSMISSION; ATMOSPHERES); WIND; ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE; DETECTION; VELOCITY; DISTRIBUTION; AUDITORY PERCEPTION; FRICTION; TWILIGHT; THERMAL STABILITY; PERIODIC VARIATIONS; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; DIURNAL VARIATIONS; POLAR REGIONS; LAYERS(ATMOSPHERE); SUMMER; WINTER; Arctic; Arctic Sound; polar night
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0679545; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0679545

A description of the effects of vertical temperature distribution and wind on the propagation of sound in the lowest layers of the Arctic atmosphere. Variations in temperature profiles are examined seasonally, daily, and diurnally under various wind conditions, and the behavior of the wind within the friction layer of the atmosphere is explored. The theory of the Ekman spiral is used to compute the theoretical distribution of wind speed and sound speed as a function of azimuth for three characteristic temperature profiles as a function of azimuth. Considering temperature alone, the calculations show that supernormal audibility will probably be common during the polar night and perhaps during the summer twilight. (Author)