Sound scattered by a body (Medwin & Clay Ch 7)

scattering is the consequence of the combined processes of reflection, refraction and

diffraction at surfaces marked by inhomogeneities in , c - these may be external or
internal to a scattering volume ( internal inhomogeneities important when considering
scattering from fish, for example )
net result of scattering is a redistribution of sound pressure in space changes in both
direction and amplitude
for a monostatic system, we are most interested in the sound reflected back to the
source/receiver this is termed backscatter
scattering is wavelength- (frequency, sort of) dependent
the sum total of scattering contributions from all scatterers is termed reverberation
this is heard as a long, slowly decaying quivering tonal blast following the ping of an
active sonar system
to start, we consider simple, hard, individual scatterers

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

explosive source at 250 m

nearby receiver at 40 m
bottom depth 2000 m

reverb following explosive charge

initial surface reverb is sharp, followed by tail due to multiple reflection & scattering
then volume reverb in mid-water column (incl. deep scattering layer)
then bottom reflection, 2nd surface reflection, and long tail of bottom reverb
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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

transmission is a
gated sinusoid or ping
of duration tp

sound pressure scattered by a small object crests of sinusoid indicated as a sequence of wave
fronts
in this sketch , dependencies of incident wave are suppressed (this would be due to source beam
pattern)
for simplicity wavefronts drawn as if coming from center of object for a complex object, as shown,
there would be many interfering wave fronts spreading from the object
within shadow, interference of incident and scattered waves is destructive as incident and scattered
waves arrive at the same time with same amplitude, but out-of-phase
outside of shadow, interference of incident and scattered waves forms a penumbra (partial shadow)
beyond penumbra ( < interfer), incident and scattered waves can be separated (no interference)
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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

traces of incident and scattered sound

pressures ping has duration tp
travel time for sound to scatter to
receiver is R/c (here R is measured
from the scattering object)
this is referred to previous figure

incident sound pressure:

scattered sound pressure:

pinc (t ) Pinc e i 2 ft , 0 t t p

pscat(t) = Pscat ei2f(t-R/c)

, R / c t R / c tp

= 0, otherwise

= 0, otherwise

Complex Acoustical Scattering Length, L( ,, f )

consider amplitude and ignore phase
or

L( ,, f )

Pscat Pinc L( ,, f ) 10 R / 20 / R
Pscat ( ,, f )
R10 R / 20
Pinc

dimension is length, unrelated to any

length scale of the body

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

Differential Scattering Cross-section, s ( ,, f )

2
Pscat
( ,, f )R 2 R / 10
s ( ,, f ) L( ,, f )
10
Pinc2
2

dimension area [ m2 ]

here, s, L, and Pscat all depend on the geometry of the measurement and the
carrier frequency, f, of the ping (really they depend on wavelength)
above is a bistatic representation in which source and receiver are at different
positions
when at same position (monostatic), it is called backscatter
now = 0 and = 0, and
2
s (0,0, f ) bs (f ) L(0,0, f )
differential backscattering cross-section

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

note that so far we have only considered the differential (and have used ) that is we have
only considered a differential portion of the total radiated power from the scattering body
this is done by looking at only a portion of the 3D surface with a finite receiver such as
shown in the schematic sketch
total scattering cross section
total scattering cross-section is the integral of s ( ,, f )
over total solid angle

or
scat is the total power scattered by the body

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

target strength
logarithmic measure of differential cross-section

s ( ,, f )
1m 2

TS( ,, f ) 10log

bs (f )
2
1m

TS(f ) 10log

L( ,, f )

1m
[ db ]

reference area is 1 m2

for backscatter

[ db ]

TS( ,, f ) 20log

L (f )
TS(f ) 20log bs
1m

[ db ]

[ db ]

relative to scattering length

or backscattering length

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

how do we quantify a single transducer measurement

R now referenced to transducer location

Pincei2ft = P0 ei2f(t-R/c) R010-R/20/R

Pscatei2ft = P0 ei2f(t-R/c) R0Lbs(f) 10-2R/20/R2
where P0 is referred to R0 (usually 1 m)

single source/receiver

travel time source to receiver is R/c

sound spreads spherically from source and then from object

pinc (t ) Pinc e i 2 ft , 0 t t p

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

Scattering by spheres

simple shape, well studied

an acoustically small and compact non-spherical body scatters in about the same way as a
sphere of same volume and same average physical characteristics ( , c)

acoustically small ( ka << 1 ) dimensions much less than those of incident sound
wavelength

1)

rigid sphere ka >> 1

reflection dominates, geometrical or specular scattering

2)

rigid sphere ka << 1

diffraction dominates, Rayleigh scattering

3)

fluid sphere includes transmission through medium

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

short wavelengths ka >> 1

or big objects
geometrical scatter from a rigid sphere ( ka >> 1 )

specular (mirrorlike) reflection

in the Kirchoff approximation ( discussed in text) plane waves reflect from an area as if the local,
curved surface is a plane
scatter consists of a spray of reflected waves each obeying simple reflection law that is, angle of
reflection = angle of incidence
we will employ a ray solution
diffraction effects are ignored - these would come from edge of shadow and behind sphere
we will calculate the scattering from a fixed, rigid, perfectly reflecting sphere at very high
frequencies ( ka >> 1 )
incident sound is a plane wave of intensity Iinc
no energy absorption in medium
no energy penetrates surface of sphere
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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

short wavelengths ka >> 1

or big objects

adi
dSicosi
2asini

dSi

di is a ring increment about the sphere

1st we need to know the incoming power at angle i
dSi 2 (a sin i )ad i

surface area increment (corresponding to grey

shaded area)

dS dSi cos i

component in direction of incident wave

d inc Iinc dS Iinc 2 a 2 sin i cos i d

input power to ring

or ,
d inc Iinc a 2 sin(2 i )d
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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

short wavelengths ka >> 1

or big objects
now, calculate scattered power

incident rays within angular

increment di at angle i are
scattered within increment
ds=2di at angle s=2i

the geometrically-scattered power measured at range R is

d gs Igs 2 (R sins )Rds
or
d gs Igs 2 R 2 sin 2 i 2d i
assume all incident power is scattered [ no power loss ]
then d d
gs

and

inc

Igs
Pgs
a2
a

,
or

2
Iinc 4R
Pinc 2R

in terms of scattering length

Lgs
Pgs

Pinc
R

where

Lgs

or
Lgs

1
0.28
2

[ we will get back to this later ]

result:
scattered intensity is independent of
angle of incidence which should be
the case by symmetry of the sphere,
but is not the case in general
in the case of the sphere, this means
that all differential geometrical
scattering cross-sections, including
backscattering cross-sections, are
equal
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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

short wavelengths ka >> 1

or big objects
the differential scattering cross-section is:
gs Lgs

a2
, for ka>>
?1
4

and the total geometrical scattering cross-section is

gs 4 gs a 2 , for ka>>
? 1 , where a2 is the cross-sectional area
gs does not include the effects of diffraction, so is not the total scattering cross-section
the ray solution is deceptively simple:
is accurate in the backscatter direction 0-90
but it ignores the complicated interference patterns beyond 90
more complete calculations using wave theory indicate that the total scattering cross-section
approaches twice its geometrical cross-section (2a2) for large ka

13

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

long wavelengths ka << 1

or small objects
Rayleigh scatter from a sphere

ka << 1

when the wavelength is large compared to the sphere radius, scatter is due solely to
diffraction. 2 simple conditions cause scatter:
1.

monopole radiation in the case that the bulk elasticity (E1) of the sphere (recall E = pA/ =
compressibility-1) is less than that of water (E0), the incident condensations and rarefactions
compress and expand the body, thereby reradiating a spherical wave phase reversed if E 1>E0

2.

dipole radiation if the spheres density ( 1) is much greater than that of the medium ( 0), the
bodys inertia will cause it to lag behind as the plane wave oscillates (sloshes back and forth).
This motion is equivalent to the water being at rest and the body being in oscillation. This motion
generates a dipole reradiation. When 1< 0, the effect is the same but the phase is reversed. In
general, when 1 0, the scattered pressure is proportional to cos , where is the angle
between scattered and incident directions.

14

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

long wavelengths ka << 1

or small objects
M&C develop a solution for the monopole and dipole radiation independently and then sum them
the scattered pressure is:

Pscat

2(ka )2
3

Pm Pd
1

cos

3
2

a Pinc e ikR
2
R

scattering length and cross-sections determined by referencing R to 1 m

L(f , ) a

( ka )2
3

1 cos
3
2

peaks, troughs at ka>1 due to interference

between diffracted wave around periphery
and wave reflected at front surface of sphere
2

(ka )4
3

2
s (f , )
1 cos a
9
2

backscatter determined by setting = 0

5( ka )2
Lbs a
6
25(ka )4
bs a 2
36
relative scattering cross-section is obtained
by /a2 and is (ka)4
result: the acoustical scattering cross-section
for Rayleigh scatter is much less than for
geometrical scatter because sound waves
bend around and are almost unaffected by
acoustically small, non-resonant bodies

Rayleigh
scattering

geometrical
scattering

15

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

fluid sphere, Rayleigh scattering

( ka << 1)

more general case, when sphere is an elastic fluid

e 1 g 1

s (f , ) (ka )

cos
2g 1
3e

monopole component

a 2 , ka = 1

dipole component

[ backscatter determined for = 0 ]

g = 1/0, ratio of spheres density to

medium density
h = c1/c0
e = E1/E0
= angle between incident and
scatter directions

most bodies in the sea have values of e and g close to unity and both terms are of similar
importance
bubbles
have e << 1 and g << 1

- in this case the monopole term dominates

- highly compressible bodies such as bubbles are capable of resonating when ka << 1
- resonant bubbles produce scattering cross-sections several orders of magnitude greater than
geometrical

16

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

small target compared to

ka << 1
Rayleigh scattering

large target compared to

ka << 1
geometrical scattering

17

scattering of light follows essentially the same scattering laws as sound

but light wavelengths are much smaller than sound - O(100s of nm)
almost all scattering bodies in seawater are large compared to optical wavelengths and have
optical cross-sections equal to their geometrical cross-sections
the sea is turbid to light
on the other hand, acoustic wavelengths are typically large compared to scattering bodies
found in seawater (at 300 kHz, 5 mm, 4 orders of magnitude larger)
- acoustic scattering is dominated by Rayleigh scattering
by comparison the sea is transparent to sound - what limits the propagation of 300 kHz
sound is not scattering but absorption

18

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

why is the sky blue?

Rayleigh scattering 1/4
blue << red
reds pass through atmosphere without scattering
but blues are scattered from O2 molecules and enters our eyes from a range of angles
violet scattered even better but our eyes are less sensitive to this

sunrise/sunset
at low azimuth, light passes through extended range of atmosphere
blue completely scattered out and sun appears red

green flash
occurs at the very end of the sunset (beginning of sunrise, when sun has passed below horizon
shorter wavelengths refracted more effectively than longer wavelengths
blue has been scattered out, reds are not effectively refracted
whats left if green (sometimes very bright and pops up above horizon for < 1s)

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Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

scattering from microstructure

hints of scattering from internal waves and microstructure in 60s, 70s

but confusing because of bio-scattering
alternatively, bio-scattering may be confused with microstructure
scattering leading to errors in estimating plankton populations
scattering cross-sections were computed based on Tatarskis
computations for atmospheric radar (Proni & Apel 1975)
these were based on turbulence structure functions
note: these included the effects of velocity fluctuations as well as T (or c)
fluctuations
but uair/cair >> uwater/cwater

20

1st experimental evidence from controlled experiments in Wellington

reservoir, W. Australia (Thorpe & Brubaker, 1983)
Observations of sound reflection by temperature microstructure L&O
Known sources
Towed cylinder and weights at fixed depths from vessel 1
Measured using 102 kHz sounder from vessel 2

results
1.no signal when towed in mixed layer thus
velocity fluctuations do not contribute

a-a, b-b, c-c are natural scatterers

2.clear signal of cylinder and weight wakes in

stratified regions
3.estimates of energy dissipated by towed
cylinder permitted estimates of turbulence
quantities, to which scattering theory could be
compared

21

theories employ the use of robust statistical models of turbulence spectra

Batchelor, 1957
(wave scattering due to turbulence Proc.Symp.Nav.Hydro.)
Goodman, 1990 (considers the bistatic or multistatic problem,
not just backscatter)
Ross etal 2004

22

Ross etal 2004

23

24

High-frequency acoustics this is an important tool to help detect

instabilities that lead to turbulence
scattering from small-scale sound speed
sound speed c=c(T,p)
fluctuations caused by T and S microstructure

Ross and Lueck 2003

but heres the problem

26

Andone Lavery WHOI

Lavery etal 2009

27

28
Lavery etal 2009

29
Lavery etal 2009

30
Lavery etal 2009

31
Lavery etal 2010

here all scattering is bio.

note difference in low k spectra
which tend to decrease toward low k
compared to turbulence spectra

32

33

34

35

coordinate systems

rectangular

cylindrical

spherical

36

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

an object is effectively insonified by plane waves when its dimensions are

smaller than the 1st Fresnel zone within the 1st Fresnel zone, a spherical
wavefront can be approximated as a plane wave

37

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

definition of volume scattering strength

(or backscattering strength if referred to
same source and receiver
I
Sv 10log scat
Iinc

in term of surface scattering can define a

surface scattering strength
Ss 10log

Iscat
Iinc

Urick

note: the distinction in the definitions the volume scattering strength S v is defined by the ratio
Iscat/Iinc, each referenced to 1 m (or 1 yd) from the object
in M&C terms (that we have so far), I scat is referenced to the receiver at range R from the object
while Iinc referred to 1 m from object the inclusion of attenuation and spherical spreading (1/R 2)
38
gives the length scale unit

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography

a more complete schematic of the problem includes beam pattern of single transducer as both
source (b) and receiver (b)
( here absorption ignored )
I0 is the axial intensity at unit distance (source level SL = 10 logI0)
intensity at 1 m in direction (, ) is I0b(, )
incident intensity at dV is I0b(, )/r2
intensity backscattered at P 1 m back toward source is (I0b(, )/r2)SvdV
scattered intensity at source is (I0b(, )/r4)SvdV, where it is assumed that sound spreads
spherically from both source and object dV
receiver will produce voltage (rms) R2(I0b(, )b(, )/r4)SvdV where R is the receiver
sensitivity
total receiver output is V[(R2I0SV /r4) b(, )b(, )] dV

Urick fig 8.3

39

Oc679 Acoustical Oceanography