Sound wave scattering by a spherical scatterer located near an ice surface

Abstract

An echo signal is simulated, which is reflected from a spherical scatterer located near an ice surface. The homogeneous water medium in which the scatterer is located is assumed semi-infinite. For the scattering coefficients of the sphere, asymptotic formulas are obtained by the saddle point method, which can be used for sufficiently large distances between the source emitting a spherical wave and the scatterer. For the occurring branch cut integrals using the steepest descent method, asymptotic expressions are also obtained. Numerical results are obtained for an acoustically rigid sphere and an ice sphere. The density of the ice medium and speed of longitudinal waves in it coincide with the analogous parameters of the ice cover. In a wide frequency range of 8–12 kHz, echo signals are compared that have been calculated for two models of media: a water half-space bordering an ice half-space and an ice-covered homogeneous waveguide with a fluid bottom under the assumption that the source placed in the water layer is directional. It is shown that in a large distance interval between the source and the spherical scatterer, the half-space model sufficiently accurately describes the echo signal while substantially reducing calculation time (by approximately a factor of 10 for the waveguide with a depth of 200 m and a sandy bottom considered in the paper).