A new equation for the accurate calculation of sound speed in all oceans

2008/11/01 by Claude C. Leroy, Claude Leroy, Stephen P. Robinson +3 · 118 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Environmental Science · Mathematics · #Acoustics #Computer science #Environmental science #Function (biology) #Geology #Marine animal studies overview #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Meteorology #Oceanography #Physics #Polynomial #Salinity #Scale (ratio) #Seawater #Speed of sound #Temperature salinity diagrams #Underwater Acoustics Research #Underwater Vehicles and Communication Systems

paper · doi:10.1121/1.2988296

published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 124(5), 2774-2782 (Acoustical Society of America)

openalex publication_date 2008/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26

Abstract

A new equation is proposed for the calculation of sound speed in seawater as a function of temperature, salinity, depth, and latitude in all oceans and open seas, including the Baltic and the Black Sea. The proposed equation agrees to better than +/-0.2 m/s with two reference complex equations, each fitting the best available data corresponding to existing waters of different salinities. The only exceptions are isolated hot brine spots that may be found at the bottom of some seas. The equation is of polynomial form, with 14 terms and coefficients of between one and three significant figures. This is a substantial reduction in complexity compared to the more complex equations using pressure that need to be calculated according to depth and location. The equation uses the 1990 universal temperature scale (an elementary transformation is given for data based on the 1968 temperature scale). It is hoped that the equation will be useful to those who need to calculate sound speed in applications of marine acoustics.

Citations

• Simple equations for the speed of sound in Neptunian waters
• Speed of sound in seawater at high pressures
• Speed of sound in water: A simple equation for realistic parameters
• New equation for the speed of sound in natural waters (with comparisons to other equations)

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Related

• New equation for the speed of sound in natural waters (with comparisons to other equations)
• Speed of sound in water: A simple equation for realistic parameters
• Speed of sound in seawater at high pressures
• Simple equations for the speed of sound in Neptunian waters
• Passive acoustic estimates of sound speed from vertical line array data in the Nordic Seas