Upwelling regime off the Cabo Frio region in Brazil and impact on acoustic propagation

L. Calado1, leandro_calado@hotmail.com
O.C. Rodríguez2,3, orodrig@ualg.pt
1IEAPM, Cabo Frio, Brazil
2LARSyS, IST, Lisbon
3University of Algarve
Campus de Gambelas, PT-8005-139 Faro, Portugal

Abstract:
This work introduces a description of the complex upwelling regime off the Cabo Frio region in Brazil and shows that ocean modeling, based on the Feature Oriented Re- gional Model System (FORMS) technique, can produce reliable predictions of sound speed fields for the corresponding shallow water environment. This work also shows, through the development of simulations, that the upwelling regime can be responsible for the creation of shadow coastal zones, in which the detection probability is too low for an acoustic source to be detected. The development of the FORMS technique and its validation with real data, for the particular region of coastal upwelling off Cabo Frio, revealed the possibility of a sustainable and reliable forecast system for the corresponding (variable in space and time) underwater acoustic environment.