The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1995 · 480 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesPhysicsAcousticsAtmospheric ScienceAtmospheric ThermodynamicsAcoustic MeasurementAtmospheric AbsorptionHumidity EffectsRelative HumiditySound AbsorptionAir Humidity EffectsAtmospheric Absorption CoefficientsAtmospheric PressureAtmospheric Pressure DependenceFrequency-dependent AbsorptionRelative Humidity EffectsSaturation Vapor PressureVapor Pressure
This Letter extends Bass et al.’s earlier work on atmospheric sound absorption, updating the 1990 J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
This Letter is an extension of an earlier Letter by Bass et al., ‘‘Atmospheric absorption of sound: Update’’ [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 88, 2019–2021 (1990)]. Errors in a formula for saturation vapor pressure are corrected, and an alternative, much simpler formula is given. The role of atmospheric pressure is emphasized by giving formulas in which the absorption, frequency, and relative humidity are all scaled with respect to atmospheric pressure. Also presented are new, more readable and useful figures showing atmospheric absorption as a function of frequency, relative humidity, and atmospheric pressure. The new figures make it possible to estimate accurately the absorption at any value of atmospheric pressure.