Azimuthal and temporal sound fluctuations on the Chukchi continental shelf during the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment 2017

The Shallow Water Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment was conducted on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf from October 2016 to November 2017. The experimental goals were to access (1) long-range (basin-scale) and (2) short-range (shallow-water) spatial and temporal energy variation. This letter focuses on a 20-dB energy change of acoustic signals in the frequency band 700–1100 Hz from June to August 2017 occurring along two shallow-water tracks from a common source, correlated with the occurrence of an oceanographic event in the top 150-m water column due to a Pacific Water outflow from the Bering Sea and retreat of the Marginal Ice Zone.The Shallow Water Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment was conducted on the Chukchi Sea continental shelf from October 2016 to November 2017. The experimental goals were to access (1) long-range (basin-scale) and (2) short-range (shallow-water) spatial and temporal energy variation. This letter focuses on a 20-dB energy change of acoustic signals in the frequency band 700–1100 Hz from June to August 2017 occurring along two shallow-water tracks from a common source, correlated with the occurrence of an oceanographic event in the top 150-m water column due to a Pacific Water outflow from the Bering Sea and retreat of the Marginal Ice Zone.