| Summary: | Includes Supplementary Material During Navy Ice Exercises (ICEX) in 2018 and 2020, the NPS team collected acoustic data using a dual-headed 38-kHz and 70-kHz echo sounder and a custom-designed ice-coupled acoustic recorder (or cryophone). The echo sounder was used to determine if signals from hydrodynamically disrupted thermohaline staircases could be identified in the water and if present, to observe their reformation. The cryophone collected passive sonar data through the ice generated by a submerged mobile training target up to 10 nautical miles away. Analysis of the signals from ICEX and models generated in Bellhop and Navy Standard Parabolic Equation provided insight that the cryophone shows promise as a useful tool. More work will be required in order to start using the cryophone in the field as intended. The echosounder results are covered in a supplemental document. Both of these concepts offer new possibilities for underwater acoustic data collection in the Arctic, and if development continues, could potentially provide inexpensive acoustic monitoring in this rapidly changing environment. Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. Lieutenant, United States Navy ONR (Arlington, VA, 22203)
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