Ocean Acoustics in the Changing Arctic

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing dramatic changes in both the ice cover and ocean structure in response to increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. The decreases in sea ice extent and thickness, the dramatic reduction in ice that has survived more than one summer, and the changes in ocean stratification as warmer waters enter the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have significant implications for ocean acoustics. The papers in this Special Issue report on recent work in the Arctic on ambient sound and passive acoustic monitoring, acoustic propagation, positioning and navigation under ice, geo-acoustics, and atmospheric propagation.

Guest Editors: Peter F. Worcester, Mohsen Badiey, and Hanne Sagen

Image credit: Figure 1 from "Effects of Pacific Summer Water layer variations and ice cover on Beaufort Sea underwater sound ducting," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 149, 2117 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0003929.