Scale Model Evaluation and Optimization of Sodar Acoustic Baffles

A 21: 1 scaled sodar, operating at 40 kHz, has been built and tested in the laboratory. Sodars, which use sound scattered by turbulence to profile the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere, need good acoustic shielding to diminish annoyance and to reduce unwanted reflections from nearby objects. Design of the acoustic shielding is generally inhibited by the difficulty of testing on full-scale systems and uncertainty as to accuracy of models. In contrast, the scale model approach described allows for "bench testing" of many designs under controlled conditions, and efficient comparison with models. Measured beam patterns from the scale model were compared with those from a numerical model based on the Kirchhoff integral theorem. Satisfactory agreement has allowed using the numerical model to optimize the acoustic shield design, both for the gross acoustic baffle geometry and for the geometry of rim modulations known as thnadners. Optimization was performed in the specific case of a scaled model of a commercial phased array sodar.