Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012;12(4):4113-32.
doi: 10.3390/s120404113. Epub 2012 Mar 27.

Acoustic transmitters for underwater neutrino telescopes

Miguel Ardid  1 , Juan A Martínez-Mora, Manuel Bou-Cabo, Giuseppina Larosa, Silvia Adrián-Martínez, Carlos D Llorens
Affiliations

Acoustic transmitters for underwater neutrino telescopes

Miguel Ardid et al. Sensors (Basel). 2012.

Abstract

In this paper acoustic transmitters that were developed for use in underwater neutrino telescopes are presented. Firstly, an acoustic transceiver has been developed as part of the acoustic positioning system of neutrino telescopes. These infrastructures are not completely rigid and require a positioning system in order to monitor the position of the optical sensors which move due to sea currents. To guarantee a reliable and versatile system, the transceiver has the requirements of reduced cost, low power consumption, high pressure withstanding (up to 500 bars), high intensity for emission, low intrinsic noise, arbitrary signals for emission and the capacity of acquiring and processing received signals. Secondly, a compact acoustic transmitter array has been developed for the calibration of acoustic neutrino detection systems. The array is able to mimic the signature of ultra-high-energy neutrino interaction in emission directivity and signal shape. The technique of parametric acoustic sources has been used to achieve the proposed aim. The developed compact array has practical features such as easy manageability and operation. The prototype designs and the results of different tests are described. The techniques applied for these two acoustic systems are so powerful and versatile that may be of interest in other marine applications using acoustic transmitters.

Keywords: acoustic transceiver; calibration; parametric sources; positioning systems; sensor array; underwater neutrino telescopes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
View of the Free Flooded Ring hydrophone: (left) without and (right) with over-moulding.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Transmitting and receiving voltage response of the FFR-SX30 hydrophones as a function of the frequency. The uncertainties on the measurements are 1.0 dB.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Transmitting and receiving voltage response of the FFR-SX30 hydrophones as a function of the angle in the XZ-plane. The uncertainties on the measurements are 1.0 dB.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Pressure dependence of the FFR-SX30 hydrophones as a function of the frequency. The uncertainties of the measurement are 1.0 dB.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
View and diagram of the Sound Emission Board.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Transmitting acoustic power of the transceiver as functions of frequency and angle, respectively. The uncertainties on the measurements are 1.0 dB.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Picture of the anchor of the Instrumentation Line of ANTARES showing the final integration of the transceiver. Details of the FFR-SX30 hydrophone with its support and of the titanium container housing the SEB are also shown.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
(a) Emitted and received signals. (b) Amplitude of the primary and secondary signals as a function of the amplitude of the input signal in the transducer. Statistical uncertainties are very small.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Amplitude of the primary and secondary signals as a function of the distance, and directivity pattern for both beams. Normalization values (a) Primary beam: 166 kPa, Secondary beam: 200 Pa; (b) Primary beam: 27 kPa, Secondary beam: 80 Pa.
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
(a) Pressure signal obtained at different angles for a three-element array. (b) Signal obtained by the propagation of the measured signal to a 1 km distance.
Figure 11.
Figure 11.
Picture of the array used for the tests and of the pool during the data taking. The emitter array and the receiver can be observed.
Figure 12.
Figure 12.
(a) Example of a received signal and the primary and secondary beams obtained after applying the band-pass filters (the secondary beam has been amplified by a factor 3 for a better visibility). (b) Directivity patterns of primary and secondary beam measured with the array. Normalization values, Primary beam: 5.4 kPa, Secondary beam: 11.5 Pa.
Figure 13.
Figure 13.
Compact array prototype and mechanical structure to hold and operate it from a boat.
Figure 14.
Figure 14.
Electronics block diagram for the compact array transmitter.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ardid M. Positioning system of the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Nucl. Instr. Meth. A. 2009;602:174–176.
    1. Askariyan G.A., Dolgoshein B.A., Kalinovsky A.N., Mokhov N.V. Acoustic detection of high energy particle showers in water. Nucl. Instr. Meth. 1979;164:267–278.
    1. Ageron M., Aguilar J.A., Al Samarai I., Albert A., Ameli F., André M., Anghinolfi M., Anton G., Anvar S., Ardid M. ANTARES Collaboration. ANTARES: The first undersea neutrino telescope. Nucl. Instr. Meth. A. 2011;656:11–38.
    1. The KM3NeT Collaboration KM3NeT Technical Design Report. 2010. Available online: www.km3net.org (accessed on 20 March 2012)
    1. Aguilar J.A., Al Samarai I., Albert A., André M., Anghinolfi M., Anton G., Anvar S., Ardid M., Assis Jesus A.C., Astraatmadja T. ANTARES Collaboration. Time calibration of the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Astrop. Phys. 2011;34:539–549.