background image NOAAVents ProgramAcoustics Program
  Monitoring the global ocean through underwater acoustics
non-clickable
non-clickable go to Acoustics home non-clickable scroll down for Methods non-clickable scroll down for Results non-clickable scroll down for Multimedia non-clickable
non-clickable non-clickable non-clickable non-clickable
  SOund SUrveillance System (SOSUS)
         
 

SOSUS diagram
Illustration from Nishimura and Conlon, 1994, provided by Clyde Nishimura, Naval Research Laboratory.

SOSUS information:

  The SOund SUrveillance System, or SOSUS, is a fixed component of the U.S. Navy's Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems (IUSS) network used for deep ocean surveillance during the Cold War. Installation of SOSUS was begun in the mid 1950s by the U.S. Navy for use in antisubmarine warfare. A brief history of the development of SOSUS can be found here. SOSUS consists of bottom mounted hydrophone arrays connected by undersea communication cables to facilities on shore. The individual arrays are installed primarily on continental slopes and seamounts at locations optimized for undistorted long range acoustic propagation. The combination of location within the oceanic sound channel and the sensitivity of large-aperture arrays allows the system to detect radiated acoustic power of less than a watt at ranges of several hundred kilometers.  
         
Vents Home Contacts-Credits Bibliography Links Disclaimer Privacy Policy