Studies on sound signal scattering from varying seabed sediments of the western continental shelf of India: Cochin to Mangalore

Abstract

A study on the interaction effect of the acoustic signal with three different sediment type seabottoms off the shelf area between Cochin and Mangalore of the west coast of India is performed. Analyses by means of Probability Density Function (PDF) of echo amplitude, root mean square (rmm) roughness of the seabed and coherent reflection coefficient at the water bottom interface show that the areas are generally smooth. A comparative study of the reflection coefficients computed from the ground truth information (1) and coherent reflection coefficients estimated from the echo data reveals that the interface scattering is dominant in the coarse grained sandy and silty sand bottom areas. However, in the fine grained sediment area, the interface scattering is found to be absent