Characterization of sand moisture profiles for improved atmospheric acoustic modeling

This work presents an effort to understand and characterize the role moisture content plays in how sound interacts with sand on the beach. This work is part of a larger project developing a numerical model of long-range (~3 km) atmospheric acoustic propagation in littoral or riverine environments with a near-shore acoustic source and on-shore receivers. Previous experiments have studied the effects of moisture content of sand samples taken from various distances from the water's edge of a man-made lake with an artificial beach. This works seeks to perform the same studies in natural coastal areas by recording moisture content on site via a moisture probe at several depths, collecting samples to determine gravimetric water content of a bulk sample, and conducting testing with an impedance tube. Samples will be collected at various distances from the shoreline in order to inform a related effort that seeks to capture the acoustic characteristics of the sandy beach for use numerical modeling.