Effects of seafloor topography on underwater acoustic channel

Abstract

Sound wave is the main means of underwater communication at present. Focusing on effects of seafloor topography on underwater acoustic channel, some acoustic propagation models were compared and the BELLHOP method was chosen based on the experiment data of typical seafloor topography. Then the date of OFES model and SOM method were used to get the marine parameters of temperature, salinity, depth and sounding velocity along SS section near Diaoyu Island. At last, the acoustic propagations along the SS section in flat bottom and real seafloor topography were simulated using BELLHOP method. The comparison of acoustic propagation loss was presented. The results show that the BELLHOP method can be used to get authentic results of acoustic propagation under different seafloor topographies, and seafloor topography has a significient effect on acoustic propagation characteritics, which are also influenced by the depth of sound source and sound receiver.