A near-field hydrophone is disclosed. The near-field hydrophone includes a housing, a piezoelectric element configured to produce an analog signal in response to an acoustic signal generated by the release of compressed air into water, an analog circuit coupled to the piezoelectric element, wherein the analog circuit is configured to receive the analog signal and to produce a conditioned analog signal, an analog-to-digital converter configured to receive the conditioned analog signal and to produce a digitized form of the conditioned analog signal, and a processor coupled to a memory circuit and to the analog-to-digital converter, wherein the processor is configured to control the operation of the analog-to-digital converter and to provide a digitized serial communication output corresponding to the digitized form of the conditioned analog signal. The piezoelectric element, the analog circuit, the analog-to-digital converter, the processor, and the memory circuit are located within the housing.