A perspective of modeling internal wave/acoustic wave interactions at the Naval Research Laboratory 1992-2012

Abstract

Interest in modeling internal gravity waves in littoral regions was stimulated by the discovery of anomalous transmission loss in the Yellow Sea, predicted by Zhou and Rogers in 1991 to be caused by solitary wave propagation along the acoustic transmission path. Over the past 20 years, we have been modeling acoustic wave/solitary internal wave interactions and an overview and perspective of some of this work, illustrated by examples, will be presented. The relationship between internal waves and the scintillation index, horizontal refraction of acoustic energy, oceanographic waveguide focusing, mode coupling between acoustic and internal wave modes, and the effect of internal waves on acoustic field uncertainty are discussed. Some thoughts on the future of 4-D simulation of acoustic/internal wave interactions and modeling in the context of incomplete environmental knowledge are considered. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]