Recent developments in underwater acoustic modeling

Abstract

This is the fourth paper in an ongoing series of research reviews presented at eight-year intervals [P. C. Etter and R. S. Flum, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 65, S42 (1979); P. C. Etter, ibid. 82, S102 (1987); J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 3312 (1995)]. This review of international developments in underwater acoustic modeling reveals an inventory containing 114 propagation models, 17 noise models, 17 reverberation models and 26 sonar performance models representing a 38% increase over the 1995 inventory. As in previous reviews, older models have been retained to provide an historical perspective that enables researchers to pose well-informed questions regarding the need for future developments. When executed in higher-level simulations, these models generate predictive and diagnostic outputs that are useful to sonar technologists or acoustical oceanographers in the analysis of complex systems operating in the undersea environment. Recent applications of underwater acoustic models in naval operations, offshore industries and oceanographic research will be discussed. This review coincides with the appearance of the third edition of Underwater Acoustic Modeling and Simulation (Spon Press, London, 2003), which provides a detailed account of research conducted over the past four decades.