Analysis of mode mismatch in uncertain shallow ocean environment

Abstract

The actual ocean is an uncertain acoustic propagation environment. For the localization algorithms that rely on the precise ocean environmental parameters, the environmental mismatch problems will exist and performance degradation may be very serious. In the uncertain ocean environment, the uncertainties of sound field will have different effects on different normal modes propagating in the sound field, thus analysis of the mismatch characteristics of normal modes affected by uncertain environmental parameters can provide technical guidance for practical engineering applications. Based on the shallow-water acoustic propagation model, this paper simulates and analyzes the mismatch results of the modal depth eigenfunction and the horizontal wave number of each normal mode under conditions of environmental mismatch. Research indicates that the influence of different environmental parameters on normal modes in the sound field is not exactly the same. It was found that the sound-speed profile and seawater depth affect significantly, followed by sediment sound speed, the other parameters appear to be relatively minor importance.