Analyzing Conditions for the Occurrence of the Voice of the Sea on the Basis of Infrasound Measurements

Conditions for the occurrence of the “voice of the sea” within the infrasonic range are studied and its parameters are determined from measurements performed in the waters of the Black Sea (2011 and 2016) and the Sea of Okhotsk (2017). Different parameters (mean correlations, acoustic-arrival spectra, directions, and phase velocities) of high-frequency infrasounds (1–10 Hz) recorded during the 2011 and 2016 experiments carried out in Katsiveli (Crimea) are compared. Wind conditions over the Black Sea waters and the conditions of propagation of acoustic waves along the direction of their arrivals during these measurements have been studied in detail. In both cases, atmospheric vortices are observed in the direction of infrasound arrivals, which cause the wind to change its direction over the sea surface. The interaction between two oppositely directed atmospheric vortices (according to data obtained in 2011) and a vortex observed to the west of the recording point (according to data obtained in 2016) result in the generation of infrasounds. The generation of microbaroms and the voice of the sea due to wind-direction variations, which cause the nonlinear interaction of surface waves propagating in opposite directions and the formation of their 2nd harmonics in the form of standing surface waves, is discussed. The most probable regions of infrasound generation are determined from an analysis of the profiles of wind velocity and direction along the path of infrasound arrivals and acoustic-pressure fields calculated using the parabolic-equation method according to the $${{C}_{{{\text{eff}}}}}$$ profiles in the direction of infrasound propagation. In both cases, these regions coincide with zones in which the wind velocity had dropped to zero and the wind direction had reversed. The infrasound within a microbarom frequency range of 0.2–0.3 Hz and the (higher frequency) sea voice with a mean frequency of 5.5 Hz, which were simultaneously recorded from the same direction, are given as an example.