Effects of shear waves on boundary-coupled vector sensors.

The impact of the acoustic properties of a solid medium on the response of an acoustic vector sensor placed at the boundary between water and the solid is examined. In particular, the components of the vector field both normal and tangential to the boundary are studied. It is shown that the component of the velocity tangential to the boundary is affected by the introduction of shear in the solid medium, which leads to amplitude and phase discontinuities across the boundary. Such discontinuities can lead to mismatches between the vector sensor components that interfere with common, coherent processing techniques. Implications for ocean bottom- and hull-mounted examples are provided.