THE WATER COLUMN ACOUSTICAL DETECTION OF METHANE PLUME AND GAS MIGRATION FLUX CALCULATION

The detection and study of the methane bubble plume is of great significance to the resource and environment research. Nowdays the detection of undersea methane plumes is mainly based on shipboard single-beam and split -beam sonar system. However, the resolution of acoustic images from the multi-beam sonar system are higher, and the covering width larger, so the system should have a good application prospect in the detection of submarine methane plume. The acoustic in-situ observation method that practiced by sonar carried ROV or fixed on the sea floor is generally used to calculate gas migration flux for single methane plume. The acoustic remote sensing observation method is usually used to calculate gas migration flux for a certain region, and the emphasis of this method is to build inversion model to calculate gas migration flux by scattering signal.