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Chris Bassett Senior Mechanical Engineer cbassett@uw.edu Phone 206-543-1263 |
Research Interests
Passive noise studies, acoustic scattering, sea ice, marine renewable energy, fisheries acoustics, anthropogenic noise
Biosketch
Chris applies passive and active acoustic techniques to a variety of underwater applications. Some of his previous and ongoing studies include fisheries acoustics; high-frequency scattering from sea ice, crude oil, and physical oceanographic processes; measurements of anthropogenic noise; and ambient noise studies.
Education
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, 2007
M.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, 2010
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, 2013
Videos
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Connecting to the Ocean's Power: Marine Energy Research at APL-UW The U.S. Navy's support of the University of Washington, one of the nation's preeminent research universities, leverages APL-UW capabilities with university academic expertise to address a wide range of topics in marine energy through experimentation and evaluation in laboratory settings and field deployments of prototype systems. |
5 Jul 2023
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Turbulence Generated by Tides in the Canal de Chacao, Chile At a proposed tidal energy conversion site in southern Chile, APL-UW researchers are measuring the magnitude and scales of turbulence, both to aid in the design of turbines for the site and to understand the fundamental dynamics of flows through the channel. |
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7 Mar 2013
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Principal Investigator Jim Thomson chronicled all phases of the Chilean experiment through posts to the New York Times 'Scientist at Work' blog. |
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Sound Sounds: Listening to the Undersea Noise in Puget Sound Doctoral student researcher Chris Bassett is analyzing a long time series of ambient noise data from Puget Sound. Vessel traffic is the most significant noise source, but breaking waves, precipitation, biology, and sediment moving on the seabed are other common underwater noise sources. The research is being pursued in conjunction with a program to assess the environmental impacts from a tidal energy conversion system placed on the seafloor. |
13 Mar 2012
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Publications |
2000-present and while at APL-UW |
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Three-dimensional observations of tidal plume fronts in estuaries using a synthetic aperture sonar array Marston, T.M., C. Bassett, D.S. Plotnick, A.N. Kidwell, and D.A. Honegger, "Three-dimensional observations of tidal plume fronts in estuaries using a synthetic aperture sonar array," J. Acoustic. Soc. Am., 154, 1124-1137, doi:10.1121/10.0020671 |
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22 Aug 2023 ![]() |
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Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) systems are designed to observe stationary scatterers located near the sediment interface. Less commonly, a SAS system may be used to observe scattering features located above the sonar in the water column. The Undersea Remote Sensing (USRS) project, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, was a collaborative Directed Research Initiative (DRI) focused on studying dynamic estuarine water column features. During the USRS DRI, researchers from multiple institutions gathered to observe tidal features at various estuaries along the coast of the United States using both in situ and remote sensing techniques, including SAS. The first studied estuary was the mouth of the Connecticut River (CTR). Data captured by a SAS system deployed during a tidal event were post-processed to create three-dimensional observations of the structure of the leading edge of the CTR's ebb plume front. From these observations, lobed structures similar in scale to previously reported instabilities are revealed, with the present observations providing additional insight regarding the structure of the bubble distribution behind the front. Velocity estimates of plume features were also determined from SAS data and shown to compare favorably with concurrent marine radar estimates. |
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A Bayesian inverse approach to identify and quantify organisms from fisheries acoustic data Urmy, S.S., A. De Robertis, and C. Bassett, "A Bayesian inverse approach to identify and quantify organisms from fisheries acoustic data," ICES J. Mar. Sci., EOR, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsad102, 2023. |
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7 Jul 2023 ![]() |
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Identifying sound-scattering organisms is a perennial challenge in fisheries acoustics. Most practitioners classify backscatter based on direct sampling, frequency-difference thresholds, and expert judgement, then echo-integrate at a single frequency. However, this approach struggles with species mixtures, and discards multi-frequency information when integrating. Inversion methods do not have these limitations, but are not widely used because species identifications are often ambiguous and the algorithms are complicated to implement. We address these shortcomings using a probabilistic, Bayesian inversion method. Like other inversion methods, it handles species mixtures, uses all available frequencies, and extends naturally to broadband signals. Unlike previous approaches, it leverages Bayesian priors to rigorously incorporate information from direct sampling and biological knowledge, constraining the inversion and reducing ambiguity in species identification. Because it is probabilistic, a well-specified model should not produce solutions that are both wrong and confident. The model is based on physical scattering processes, so its output is fully interpretable, unlike some machine learning methods. Finally, the approach can be implemented using existing Bayesian libraries and is easily parallelized for large datasets. We present examples using simulations and field data from the Gulf of Alaska, and discuss possible applications and extensions of the method. |
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Connecting to the Ocean's Power: Marine Energy Research at APL-UW. Bassett, C., and B. Polagye, Editors. "Connecting to the Ocean's Power: Marine Energy Research at APL-UW." Technical Report, APL-UW TR 2301. Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle. April 2023, 35 pp. |
5 Jul 2023 ![]() |
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In The News
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Oscilla Power, Univ. of Wash. and others share $25M federal grant to spur wave energy efforts GeekWire, Lisa Stiffler The UW, in partnership with Integral Consulting, will study the underwater noise being created by wave energy converters that are being tested at the PacWave South facility on the Oregon Coast. The information will be helpful to wave energy entrepreneurs and regulating agencies working to make sure the devices don’t harm marine life. |
27 Jan 2022
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Sounds of the sea: Stones clanging Inside Science, Joel N. Shurkin Tide-borne pebbles on the seabed can drown out other ocean noises. According to research by Christopher Bassett and colleagues published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the noise from gravel on the seabed is significant to the overall undersea soundscape. |
21 May 2013
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Noisy ships, ferries create racket below Puget Sound The Seattle Times, Craig Welch Recent work by University of Washington researchers shows noise in some Puget Sound shipping channels regularly meets or exceeds levels the federal government suggests may be harmful to marine life. |
3 Jan 2013
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