Analysis of multipath scintillations from long range acoustic transmissions on the New England continental slope and shelf

Abstract

Observations of intensity fluctuations for broadband, 400-Hz multipath arrivals observed during the 1996 New England shelfbreak PRIMER study are described. Acoustic signals were generated by two bottom-mounted sources located on the continental slope in roughly 290-m water depth and were received on a 52-m-long vertical-line-array (VLA) located in 93-m water depth. Propagation ranges were 42.2 and 59.6 km. The bathymetry, oceanography, and bottom geology of the PRIMER site are described. Acoustic observables of point intensity, peak intensity, and integrated energy over the VLA are treated in terms of the scintillation index, log-intensity variance, and intensity probability density functions (PDFs). Variability of the observables are decomposed into high and low frequency components with time scales less than and greater than 2 h, to facilitate correlation to ocean processes at different timescales. Parabolic equation numerical simulations using a quasi-random undular tidal bore model are able to reproduce many of the observed intensity fluctuation to within a factor of 2, and they allow investigation of scintillation behavior as a function of range.