Temporal and azimuthal dependence of sound propagation in shallow water with internal waves

Abstract

The short time scale (minutes) and azimuthal dependence of sound wave propagation in shallow water regions due to internal waves is examined. Results from the shallow water acoustics in random media (SWARM-95) experiment are presented that reflect these dependencies. Time-dependent internal waves are modeled using the dnoidal solution to the nonlinear internal wave equations, so that the effects of both temporal and spatial variability can be assessed. A full wave parabolic equation model is used to simulate broadband acoustic propagation. It is shown that the short term temporal variability and the azimuthal dependence of the sound field are strongly correlated to the internal wave field.