ARAP - Deep Ocean Vector Sensor Research Array

A vertical line array of three axis acoustic vector sensors has been developed to investigate the structure of the acoustic noise fields at reliable acoustic path depths. The array has an aperture of 378 meters and the pass band is 10 Hz to 500 Hz. The array design is modular, with each vector sensor package having its own compass and two-axis tilt sensors and power supply. Telemetry within the array is sent over a passive electronic network. Data from the 224 acoustic channels, 32 compasses and 64 tilt sensors is stored on a bank of hard drives linked to the network controller by a single board computer with a LINUX operating system. Power and storage capacity are sufficient for 7 days of continuous operation. The system uses an acoustic modem to communicate commands from the surface and system status information to the surface. Design details of the vector sensor are presented. Flow noise performance results are presented. Hydromechanical analysis results are presented predicting the geometry of the array in anticipated flow fields