Space Physics Students Research Gravitational Waves and New Sonar
Gretchen Hawkins
Issue date: 11/11/09 Section: News
Last semester, Dr. Michele Zanolin, professor of physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott campus, initiated two unique research projects that allow students to gain valuable research skills while working on their undergraduate degree.
This past summer, Dr. Zanolin was awarded grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA which enabled him to hire two students to continue work on a gravitational wave project and a new type of sonar. Each of the six students is working independently on a specific component of their respective project.
Angelo Charbonnier, who works under the NASA grant, is coordinating the group that is testing a new kind of sonar named evanescent wave sonar. For the past year, he has been working with Dr. Zanolin on the hydrophone array and was initially responsible for selecting all of the structural and electrical components of the apparatus. Now that the installation and wiring is thoroughly underway, Angelo has turned his attention toward calibrating 16 hydrophones using a pre-calibrated hydrophone from RESON.
This process requires him to take many measurements at the ERAU pool. In addition, Charbonnier is working on calculating a theoretical maximum power output for the project's power source and amplifier. Once a theoretical value is determined, it can be compared to the actual value and the team's data analysis accuracy will be greatly improved.
Walt Williams is currently working on transforming sound recordings into visible images. The array sources generate sound that bounces off buried objects within the environment that the hydrophone array is positioned in and the 16 hydrophones record that sound. Once the sounds have been cleaned up and combined, Fourier transforms, inverse filters, and beam forming are used to generate the image.
Soon, the hydrophone array will be tested in the local lakes to help generate more realistic data. The long term goal is to use this sonar technology to find archeological remains in the Venice lagoon.
This past summer, Dr. Zanolin was awarded grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA which enabled him to hire two students to continue work on a gravitational wave project and a new type of sonar. Each of the six students is working independently on a specific component of their respective project.
Angelo Charbonnier, who works under the NASA grant, is coordinating the group that is testing a new kind of sonar named evanescent wave sonar. For the past year, he has been working with Dr. Zanolin on the hydrophone array and was initially responsible for selecting all of the structural and electrical components of the apparatus. Now that the installation and wiring is thoroughly underway, Angelo has turned his attention toward calibrating 16 hydrophones using a pre-calibrated hydrophone from RESON.
This process requires him to take many measurements at the ERAU pool. In addition, Charbonnier is working on calculating a theoretical maximum power output for the project's power source and amplifier. Once a theoretical value is determined, it can be compared to the actual value and the team's data analysis accuracy will be greatly improved.
Walt Williams is currently working on transforming sound recordings into visible images. The array sources generate sound that bounces off buried objects within the environment that the hydrophone array is positioned in and the 16 hydrophones record that sound. Once the sounds have been cleaned up and combined, Fourier transforms, inverse filters, and beam forming are used to generate the image.
Soon, the hydrophone array will be tested in the local lakes to help generate more realistic data. The long term goal is to use this sonar technology to find archeological remains in the Venice lagoon.
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