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The SOFAR channel (short for sound fixing and ranging channel), or deep sound channel (DSC), [1] is a horizontal layer of water in the ocean at which depth the speed of sound is at its minimum. The SOFAR channel acts as a waveguide for sound, and low frequency sound waves within the channel may travel thousands of miles before dissipating.
Output of a computer model of underwater acoustic propagation in a simplified ocean environment. A seafloor map produced by multibeam sonar. Underwater acoustics (also known as hydroacoustics) is the study of the propagation of sound in water and the interaction of the mechanical waves that constitute sound with the water, its contents and its boundaries.
The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound in air, is about 343 m/s (1,125 ft/s; 1,235 km/h; 767 mph; 667 kn), or 1 km in 2.91 s or one mile in 4.69 s.
The terms UQC and AN/WQC-2 follow the nomenclature of the Joint Electronics Type Designation System. [18] The type designation "UQC" stands for General Utility (multi use), Sonar and Underwater Sound and Communications (Receiving/Transmitting, two way). The "W" in WQC stands for Water Surface and Underwater combined.
For this device to work as intended, it must have several qualities. Firstly, the bomb needs to detonate at the correct depth, so that it can take full advantage of the deep sound channel. The sofar bomb has to sink fast enough so that it reaches the required depth within a reasonable amount of time (usually about 5 minutes). [2]
Figure 1. Table 1's data in graphical format. Although given as a function of depth [note 1], the speed of sound in the ocean does not depend solely on depth.Rather, for a given depth, the speed of sound depends on the temperature at that depth, the depth itself, and the salinity at that depth, in that order.
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The United States began a system of passive, fixed ocean surveillance systems in 1950 with the classified name Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) with American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), with its Bell Laboratories research and Western Electric manufacturing entities being contracted for development and installation.