The propagation of acoustic field uncertainty in an ocean waveguide having finite correlation length sound speed variations

Abstract

While the physical laws governing wave propagation in ocean waveguides are well understood, the appropriate wave equations typically depend on parameters, fields, boundary, and initial conditions that are, at best, only partially known in any given environment. Incomplete environmental knowledge concerning these quantities is a form of uncertainty that should be characterized and quantified in any simulation-based prediction scheme involving the acoustic field. This talk focuses on the quantification of uncertainty in ocean waveguide propagation using a probabilistic formulation in which both the sound speed and acoustic fields are represented by stochastic basis expansions. An example is discussed for the case of an ocean waveguide with separable depth and range correlation functions describing the sound speed field. The relationship between this example and the propagation of acoustic field uncertainty in an internal wave field is discussed. [Work supported by ONR.]