Ice-ocean acoustic energy transfer: ambient noise in the ice-edge region

The ambient noise produced by large areas of ice flees, such as the Odden a nd the marginal ice zone, was recorded and analysed. A model based on the c ollision, compression and shearing of flees driven by ocean swell was const ructed. This model allows the level and variance of the ambient noise to be predicted provided the conditions of the ice and the sea state are known. The frequency spectrum of the ambient noise in the range 100 Hz to 100 kHz is explained in terms of acoustic propagation and absorption by sea water. The probability distribution of ambient noise intensity, obtained from a st atistical analysis of collision frequencies, is a form of K distribution an d agrees with observations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.