4 ms·
This doesn't surprise me. In general, underwater sound attenuates more quickly as you increase its frequency. Foot-fall thumping has a pretty strong low-freque
by DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
This doesn't surprise me.
In general, underwater sound attenuates more quickly as you increase its frequency. Foot-fall thumping has a pretty strong low-frequency component. It's also repetitious, which (I'm guessing but don't know for sure) probably makes it easier for a sonar operator to notice.
- wil421 6y agoSonar operators are pretty cool. I saw a clip where they identified another ship (or sub) because they heard a valve open or close. It sounded and looked like static to me but they said it was pretty clear to the trained ear.
- Lev1a 6y agoAnd then the sonar operator records the sound onto a cassette tape and plays it at 10x speed for the captain to convince them that they really are chasing another submarine. I love that movie so much...
- DoofusOfDeath 6y agoIf someone running on a treadmill sounds like whales humping, he probably needs to go on a diet :)
- koheripbal 6y agoA low repetition thump is not the same as a low frequency sound. A thump can be a pulse of high frequency sound.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y agoRight, but IIUC it's the difference between a "transient" [0] and a "tonal" [1], which AFAIK is an important distinction for sonar operators. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_(acoustics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_(acoustics)