A simple formula for coherent specular reflection loss of underwater sound from rough ocean surfaces

Abstract

The interaction of underwater sound with rough sea surfaces affects its propagation. The interaction may involve several coupled mechanisms: (1) a rough air-sea interface scatters and spreads the incident sound energy over a range of angles, (2) entrapped sub-surface air bubbles absorb and scatter sound energy, and (3) medium of bubble clouds refract sound energy upwards. In this paper, we ignore the effect of bubbles and consider the effect of rough air-sea interface only. We further limit our consideration to the coherent component in the specular direction. Two simple closed-form formulas are often used to model the coherent reflection loss from rough ocean surfaces. One is derived from perturbation approximation and suitable for smaller grazing angles. The other is from Kirchhoff approximation and suitable for larger grazing angles. More accurate approximations over a wide-range of grazing angles require numerical evaluation of integrals or complex special functions. In this work, we simplify and adapt earlier results by other authors to obtain a simple expression that transits from the perturbation to the Kirchhoff formulas as grazing angle increases. The new simple analytical formula is easy to use and compares well with results from complex numerical methods.