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A tomographic scheme is presented that ingests ocean acoustic measurements into an ocean model using data from bottom-mounted hydrophones. The short distances between source-receiver pairs (1-10 km) means arrival times at frequencies of 8-11 kHz are readily detectable and often distinguishable. The influence of ocean surface motion causes considerable variability in acoustic travel times. Techniques are presented for measuring travel times and removing the variability due to surface waves. An assimilation technique is investigated that uses differences in measured and modeled acoustic travel times to impose corrections on the oceanographic model. Equations relating travel time differences to oceanographic variables are derived, and techniques are presented for estimating the acoustic and ocean model error covariance matrices. One test case using a single source-receiver pair shows that the tomographic information can have an impact on constraining the solution of the ocean circulation model but can also introduce biases in the predictions. A second test case utilizes knowledge of a bias in a model-predicted variable to limit grid cells that are impacted by the tomographic data. In this case, using the tomographic data results in significant improvements in the model predictions without introducing any biases.

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The Marine Mammal Active Sonar Test was conducted in January 2004 off the central California coast during the gray whale migration. The purpose of the test was to collect data to significantly advance active sonar detection, classification, and tracking of marine mammals out to ranges of 1 mile. The R/V New Horizon was moored in the migration path. Two different sonar systems operating between 210 and 220 dB were deployed off the vessel, the IMAPS phased array sonar system that operates from 20–30 kHz and the MAST mechanical system that uses rotating parabolic transducers operating from 30 to 40 kHz. Marine mammal observers were deployed on the bluffs overlooking the experiment and aboard the New Horizon. The observers tracked the whales using electronic theodelites, providing ground truth for the sonar systems. They also looked for any severe reactions from the animals, and called for a shutdown if any marine mammals were observed within 100 m of the sonar. Here, we discuss the experiment and the results to date, including any reaction of the whales to the sonar system. We will also touch on the legal battle to conduct the experiment, and lessons learned.