Academician L.M. Brekhovskikh in the Ocean Acoustics Department of Shirshov Institute of Oceanology

Abstract

The article is devoted to the memories of the life of L.M. Brekhovskikh, when he headed the Ocean Acoustics Department at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and to studies that were initiated by him or were carried out under his leadership. The friendly and attentive attitude of L.M. to its employees and disciples, the organization of constant communication of scientists of different generations (in the format of the school-seminar “Acoustics of the Ocean”) is noted, which was the key to the fruitful scientifc work of the team. Some signifcant results of acoustic experiments in the ocean on the scientifc research vessels of the Academy of Sciences are presented: the discovery of slightly diverging beam beams (1989–1990); experiments on both acoustic tomography of the ocean bottom (passive tomography 1980) and the water column (1989–1994); data processing of the international experiment (1998–1999) ACOUS.
L.M. was one of the frst who realized that acoustic methods are important in understanding and quantifying the physical processes in the ocean and ecology – as means for studies of the effects of industrial noise on marine biota. Part of the research initiated by L.M.
Brekhovskikh continue in the Acoustic laboratories of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at the present time. Namely,
– studies of the effects of industrial acoustic noise on marine mammals off the coast of Sakhalin island;
– passive tomography of the ocean based on the ocean ambient noise and noise from remote shipping by using data of the international NPAL experiment in the Pacifc, and the 2012 experiment in the Florida Strait (O.A. Godin, etc.);
– local acoustic tomography in the shallow water (experiments in the Blue Bay, Gelendzhik, 2009 and subsequent years)