Survey of Radio Propagation Models for Acoustic Applications in Underwater Wireless Sensor Network

Background: Acoustic waves have a large range of applications in UWSNs from underwater monitoring to disaster management, military surveillance to assisted navigation. Acoustic waves are primarily used for wireless communication in water. But radio waves are more suitable than acoustic waves for many underwater applications (e.g. real-time applications, shallow water applications). Objectives: A propagation model is required to effectively design a radio wave based UWSN. Propagation model predicts the average received signal strength at a given distance from the transmitter and the variability of the signal strength in close spatial proximity to a particular location. Various radio propagation models are developed for air. Methods: The performance of RF-EM waves underwater is not the same as that in the air. Many parameters which have real-value in the air becomes complex valued in seawater. Thus, propagation models for air cannot be directly used to calculate propagation loss underwater. Various radio propagation models are developed for water by Al-Shamaa’a et al., Uribe and Grote, Jiang et al., Elrashidi et al., Hattab et al. Each model has some merits and demerits. Path loss model developed by Al-Shamma’a et al. is a simple model based on attenuation only. Results: Uribe and Grote have introduced distance-dependent attenuation coefficient in path loss calculation. Path loss model by Jiang et al. calculates path loss for freshwater. Model by Hattab et al. is specifically designed for UWSN. According to the authors, it is the first path loss model developed for UWSN. Elrashidi et al. have calculated path loss for freshwater and seawater at 2.4 GHz. The model includes the effect of the reflected signals on the received signal by the receiver node. Conclusion: The paper presents a comparative analysis of these various radio propagation models developed for underwater. Among these models, the radio propagation model by Hattab et al. is more realistic and covers both propagation loss and interface loss. According to the authors, it is the first radio propagation model developed for UWSNs.