Supervisor: Hans Kjeldsen

The comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty organization (CTBTO) with its seat in Vienna ensures that no testing of nuclear weapons is allowed that violates the corresponding contract of 186 nations. The measurement monitoring network that is able to detect any breach against this global norm across the world is the key toolbox for the CTBTO PrepCom. Besides seismic, infrasound or radionuclide detectors - hydroacoustics is used as a key method to register acoustical waves that result from the detonation of nuclear weaponry and travel through the water where they can be heard over very long distances. In this presentation we will explore the effects that acoustical waves have inside the water medium, the physical properties of the transmission of sound through the oceans, which complications arise in the attempt to detect these signals and finally how this knowledge can be used for the detection network. Starting with the wave basics, the wave equation will be explained, the sound propagation and finally the sonar equation.