Surface Duct Research Articles

Segmented propagation model for the paths and travel times of surface duct leaky signals.

In the deep ocean environment with a surface duct, sound propagating within the duct leaks into the geometric shadow zone below it. However, the propagation paths and time of these leaky parts have not been fully characterized. This paper investigates the mechanism of surface duct leaky (SDL) signals based on normal mode theory. It reveals that SDL signals are caused by specific modes with grazing angles close to zero at the bottom of the surface duct. Combining the theory of diffracted sound rays, the study proposes a Segmented Propagation model (SPM) for SDL signals. The propagation paths of SDL signals are divided into three segments: S1, which extends from the source to the surface duct; S2, the segment propagating within the surface duct; and S3, the segment leading from the surface duct to the receiver. The proposed SPM describes the propagation mechanism of SDL signals and allows for precise calculation of their propagation time. Experimental data from the western Pacific are used to verify the SPM.

Marine compressed air source array acoustic field characterization from at-sea measurements: Long-range propagationa).

In 2007, the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center conducted a comprehensive experiment in the northern Gulf of Mexico to measure the three-dimensional acoustic field of a standard marine compressed-air source array used in seismic exploration. This study aims to enhance understanding of long-range acoustic propagation of the array signals, with focus on variations in received sound pressure levels and sound exposure levels (SELs) at various ranges from the source. These variations are influenced by factors, such as receiver depth, array orientation, and propagation conditions. The long-range measurements show that received peak pressure levels and SELs exhibit non-monotonic (oscillatory) behavior with range leading up to 10 dB increase in received levels at longer ranges. At ranges beyond 20 km, acoustic levels at the shallowest hydrophone consistently surpassed those at deeper ones by 3-10 dB, suggesting the impact of surface duct propagation effects. The results demonstrate that range-independent bathymetry leads to approximately 4 dB higher received acoustic levels than range-dependent propagation conditions. The measured long-range propagation acoustic metrics from controlled experiment provide a unique and critical dataset for validating both source and propagation model accuracy in predicting received sound pressure and SEL in the far-field of the source array.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Sonar Detection Range in Luzon Strait

Sonar serves as a critical submarine detection apparatus for naval vessels, with its detection range forming the foundation of its overall performance in underwater surveillance. The Luzon Strait, in the eastern part of the South China Sea, presents a complex hydrographic setting that profoundly influences sonar performance, necessitating mastery of the detection range variation for enhanced anti-submarine operational efficiency. This study employs the Bellhop acoustic propagation model to estimate the transmission loss. Subsequently, a detection probability integration approach is applied to determine the sonar detection range in the Luzon Strait from 2019 to 2023, which is then subjected to statistical analysis. The findings indicate the following. (1) During the summer and autumn, the shallow mixed layer fails to generate a surface duct, resulting in shorter detection ranges that are primarily dependent on the water depth. In the Shallow Water Zone (<150 m), frequent interactions between sound waves and the sea boundaries lead to considerable acoustic energy attenuation, maintaining a short detection range. In the Intermediate Depth Zone (150–2500 m), sound rays retain adequate energy post-seabed reflection, extending the sonar detection to 5–8 km. Beyond 2500 m, the diminishing reflective energy restricts the range to 2–5 km. (2) Conversely, in the winter and spring, the formation of a surface duct becomes the predominant determinant of the detection range, capable of exceeding 10 km, overshadowing the influence of the water depth.

Investigating the spatio–temporal characteristics of lower atmospheric ducts across the China seas by performing a long–term simulation using the WRF model

In this work, a diagnostic scheme for lower atmospheric ducts was established based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. More specifically, a 10-year simulation test was conducted for the China seas to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of the lower atmospheric ducts phenomenon. Compared with the sounding data, the long-term simulations showed a high temporal correlation and the root mean square error of the modified atmospheric refractivity remained between 4 M and 7 M. Based on the simulations, significant regional differences in the occurrence probability of lower atmospheric ducts were detected from south to north. Among them, the surface ducts near the sea surface exhibited the highest occurrence probability, with higher probabilities being recorded in autumn and winter, and the probability gradually increased with the decreasing latitude. The spatio-temporal characteristics of duct height, thickness, and strength were generally consistent. In the seas at mid-latitudes, strong ducts mostly occurred in the spring and autumn, with the single-layer ducts being predominant and the first layer duct showing stronger characteristics than the second layer. In the lower latitude regions, the situation was exactly the opposite. The first duct layer, which existed throughout the year, exhibited weaker characteristics with less pronounced seasonal variations. On the other hand, the second duct layer demonstrated stronger features.

Development of a Numerical Prediction Model for Marine Lower Atmospheric Ducts and Its Evaluation across the South China Sea

The Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST) model serves as the foundation for creating a forecast model to detect lower atmospheric ducts in this study. A set of prediction tests with different forecasting times focusing on the South China Sea domain was conducted to evaluate the short-term forecasting effectiveness of lower atmospheric ducts. The assessment of sounding observation data revealed that the prediction model performed well in predicting the characteristics of all types of ducts. The mean values of the forecasting errors were slightly lower than the reanalysis data but had lower levels of correlation coefficients. At an altitude of about 2000 m, the forecasted error of modified atmospheric refractivity reached peak values and then decreased gradually with increasing altitude. The accuracy of forecasted surface ducts was higher than that of elevated ducts. Noticeable land–sea differences were identified for the spatial distributions of duct characteristics, and the occurrence rates of both the surface and elevated ducts were high at sea. As for the differences among the forecasts of 24, 48, and 72 h ahead, the differences primarily occurred at altitude levels below 20 m and 500 m~1500 m, which are consistent with the differences in the duct height.

Statistical study on shallow water soundscape variability of Eastern Arabian Sea using noise level metrics.

Underwater soundscape that spans a broad frequency band shows variability consistent with contributing noise sources and ocean environment. However, increased anthropogenic activities result in noise proliferation which can harm natural marine habitat. Continuous monitoring of background sound is useful to assess such spatio-temporal variability of soundscape. Standard noise level metrics, for instance, mean (μ), 90th percentiles (90P), standard deviation (σ), and kurtosis (β), are constructed from noise field measured from three coastal stations in Eastern Arabian Sea. These metrics are found to be suitable to describe the soundscape variability with respect to season, frequency, and depth. Mean and 90P are used to compare the seasonal variations while kurtosis metrics are exercised to check the impulsive nature of composite signal. Histogram representation and probability density function (PDF) were utilized to analyze the spectral variation in soundscape with respect to season. Analysis was carried out at 500-ms temporal window in two spectral bands corresponding to traffic and wind noise fields. Seasonal analysis shows that in summer, mean noise level decreases as hydrophone depth increases, while in winter, deeper depths have higher mean value with the presence of seasonal surface duct. This implication of sound speed profile on noise field has also been confirmed using appropriate noise model.

Influence of the sound speed profile below the isothermal surface duct on the duct mode leakage rates

The isothermal surface duct is an important feature in the sound speed profile (SSP) in ocean, as it allows acoustic signals to propagate to long distances. Usually, such a duct is modeled as two intervals of sound speed with respect to depth with N 2-linear SSP approximating linear SSP. The interval above the duct boundary has a positive sound speed gradient over depth, while the interval below has a negative gradient. At the duct boundary the gradient normally has a discontinuity. In this paper, based on the author’s previously derived solution for the depth-separated Helmholtz equation in the environment with the N 2-exponential sound speed profile, he shows how this SSP can be used to model the smooth transition between the two intervals. Also, three SSPs with nearly identical sound speed between the duct boundary and the surface but with different profiles below the duct are considered, and energy leakage from the duct is calculated for the first three duct modes in a range of frequencies. It is shown that the shape of the sound speed profile below the duct can significantly affect the modal leakage rates.

Effects of a Subsurface Eddy on Acoustic Propagation in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Using a ray tracing model, acoustic propagation through a subsurface eddy is investigated. The eddy with a 460 km diameter lies at approximately 23° N, 126° E. The presence of the subsurface eddy is found to result in significant alterations to the received acoustic field. Affected by the subsurface eddy, the location of a given convergence zone can be different from usual with optimum propagation conditions. For a source deployed outside of the eddy, the subsurface eddy creates a surface duct by modifying the sonic layer depth. A maximum of 15 km difference in the range of a given convergence zone is found between the propagations with the presence and absence of the eddy when the source is placed around 100 m depth. However, for a source within the eddy, the intense shift in convergence zone patterns occurs only when the source is deployed around 300 m depth. These ocean-acoustic results can provide essential information for operating technologies such as communication devices, underwater sonar, and navigation systems.

Analysis of Radar Target Scattering Echo With Surface Ducting in Large-Scale Environments Based on the PE-MoM Hybrid Method

This letter proposes a three-dimensional (3-D) PE- MoM hybrid method to predict radar target scattering with sur- face ducting in large-scale environments. The method divides the complex multiscale problem into two sub-problems: electromag- netic (EM) wave propagation and scattering. The bidirectional 3-D parabolic equation (PE) method is used to consider the influence of environmental factors such as irregular terrain and atmospheric duct on EM wave propagation, while the method of moments (MoM) is used to calculate the scattering from the key target. By introducing phase compensation and Fourier synthesis techniques, the proposed method can be extended to predict transient scattering echoes from the target. A typical example is given to verify the correctness of the proposed method, and good consistency is also seen from comparison with the MoM. Finally, simulation analysis is carried out for the scattering of a missile target in a sea-land composite environment. The results show that the proposed method can effectively predict the scattering echoes of low-altitude targets in large-scale environments.

Fusing Numerical Weather Prediction Ensembles with Refractivity Inversions during Surface Ducting Conditions

Abstract This study investigates the use of numerical weather prediction (NWP) ensembles to aid refractivity inversion problems during surface ducting conditions. Thirteen sets of measured thermodynamic atmospheric data from an instrumented helicopter during the Wallops Island field experiment are fit to a two-layer parametric surface duct model to characterize the duct. This modeled refractivity is considered “ground truth” for the environment and is used to generate the synthetic radar propagation loss field that then drives the inversion process. The inverse solution (refractivity derived from the synthetic radar data) is compared with this ground truth refractivity. For the inversion process, parameters of the two-layer model are iteratively estimated using genetic algorithms to determine which parameters likely produced the synthetic radar propagation field. Three numerical inversion experiments are conducted. The first experiment utilizes a randomized set of two-layer model parameters to initialize the inversion process, while the second experiment initializes the inversion using NWP ensembles, and the third experiment uses NWP ensembles to both initialize and restrict the parameter search intervals used in the inversion process. The results show that incorporation of NWP data benefits the accuracy and speed of the inversion result. However, in a few cases, an extended NWP ensemble forecast period was needed to encompass the ground truth parameters in the restricted search space. Furthermore, it is found that NWP ensemble populations with smaller spreads are more likely to hinder the inverse process than to aid it.

A Comparative Study of Rough Sea Surface and Evaporation Duct Models on Radio Wave Propagation

Microwave and millimeter-wave propagations near the sea surface are greatly affected by the vertical atmospheric refractivity profile and the sea surface. To accurately simulate or predict the performance of ship radar systems, the evaporation duct model and rough sea surface models are usually incorporated into the parabolic equation to model electromagnetic wave propagation. The Paulus-Jeske (PJ) model and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) model are the most widely used to make the vertical atmospheric refractivity profile, and the roughness sea surface is modeled with the effective reflection coefficient of the rough surface or the generation of the rough sea surface. There are four widely used rough sea surface approximations called Ament, Miller-Brown, Shadowed, and Hybrid for rough sea surface modeling. In this study, numerical simulation is first used to compare the different rough sea surface modeling methods. Then, evaporation duct measurement data and C-band propagation experimental data are used to compare the evaporation duct models and the four rough sea surface models that are combined with evaporation duct models for propagation loss prediction. The simulation results show that the shadowing of radio waves by the rough sea surface and sea surface structure are important factors affecting the transmission of radio waves in evaporation ducts, and the difference in the path loss predicted by different rough sea surface approximations may exceed 10 dB at the same location. In particular, the frequency and wind speed will increase. In addition, the experimental data show that the evaporation duct can be better diagnosed using different evaporation duct models at different atmospheric stabilities. When the air-sea temperature difference is positive, the PJ evaporation duct is recommended; otherwise, the NPS model is better, and the results of the Shadowed and Hybrid rough sea surface models are in better agreement with the observations.

Atmospheric Ducts and Their Electromagnetic Propagation Characteristics in the Northwestern South China Sea

The propagation of electromagnetic waves beyond the line of sight can be caused by atmospheric ducts, which are significant concerns in the fields of radar and communication. This paper utilizes data from seven automatic weather stations and five radio-sounding stations to statistically analyze the characteristics of the atmospheric ducts in the northwest region of the South China Sea (SCS). After verifying the practicality of numerical analysis data from NCEP CFSv2 and ECMWF in studying atmospheric ducts using measured data, we analyzed the spatial–temporal distribution characteristics of the height of the regional evaporation duct and the bottom height of the elevated duct. The study found that the NCEP CFSv2 data accurately capture the evaporation duct height and duct occurrence rate in the study area, and the elevated duct bottom height calculated from ERA5 and the measured data have good consistency. The occurrence rate and height of the evaporation duct in coastal stations in the northwest of the SCS vary significantly by month, demonstrating clear monthly distribution patterns; conversely, changes in the Xisha station are minimal, indicating good temporal uniformity. For lower atmospheric ducts, the difference in occurrence rates between 00:00 and 12:00 (UTC) is negligible. The occurrence probability of elevated ducts in the Beibu Gulf area is relatively high, mainly concentrated from January to April, and the Xisha area is dominated by surface ducts without foundation layers, mainly concentrated from June to August. Monsoons play a critical role in the generation and evolution of atmospheric ducts in the northwest of the SCS, with the height of the evaporation duct increasing and the bottom height of the elevated duct decreasing after the onset of the summer monsoon. In the end, we simulated electromagnetic propagation loss under different frequencies and radiation elevation angles in various duct environments within a typical atmospheric duct structure.

Numerical simulation of wave propagation in ice-covered ocean environments based on the equivalent-source method

Accurate modeling of sound propagation in ice-covered ocean environments can help with interpreting discrepancies between predictions and experimental observations in the changing Arctic Ocean; this is advantageous for environmental conservation, resource exploration, and naval applications. Building on the recent development of the equivalent-source (ES) method (ESM), herein, an ESM-based sub-ice model (ESM-SUBICE) is presented for wave propagation in an ice-covered ocean acoustic environment. The presented model solves exact governing equations for acoustic–elastic propagation in an ice-covered waveguide by expressing the wave solution in terms of a field superposition produced by several sets of ESs. Their unknown amplitudes are solved by strictly enforcing additional ice-layer boundary conditions. ESM-SUBICE achieves high efficiency using a water–seabed Green's function to automatically satisfy the boundary conditions at this interface. By further dividing the ocean environment into layers, ESM-SUBICE is extended for more general situations including stratified sound-speed structures and seabed range dependencies. ESM-SUBICE is benchmarked against a finite-element model, and it is found to produce high-quality solutions with high efficiency. Transmission-loss predictions for elastic, fluid, and free-surface ice representations in different ocean environments are compared to examine the effect of ice elasticity on propagation and scattering. The results suggest that the fluid representation is adequate for deep-water environments where the seabed is soft and the surface duct effect is insignificant; otherwise, for accurate predictions, the ice elasticity should be considered.

Statistical Analysis of Hybrid Atmospheric Ducts over the Northern South China Sea and Their Influence on Over-the-Horizon Electromagnetic Wave Propagation

Atmospheric ducts are special super-refractive atmospheric structures that can cause over-the-horizon propagation of electromagnetic waves. Different types of atmospheric ducts have different influences on electromagnetic wave propagation. Owing to the complex marine atmospheric environment, different types of atmospheric ducts often occur together. When evaluating the performance of an electromagnetic system near the sea surface, the combined influence of various atmospheric ducts should be considered comprehensively. In this paper, the statistical distribution of atmospheric ducts over the northern South China Sea is analyzed using sounding data and reanalysis data. This paper uses the parabolic equation model to analyze the propagation characteristics of microwaves near the sea surface in the presence of both surface and evaporation ducts. It is found that compared with cases where only one type of atmospheric duct is considered, a hybrid atmospheric duct structure can capture more microwave energy at a lower receiving height. At an antenna height of 5 m, the path loss begins to fluctuate beyond a propagation distance of 50 km, with the maximum fluctuation reaching about 15 dB. Microwave propagation characteristics at different microwave frequencies and antenna heights are also simulated and analyzed.

Properties of the underwater sound fields during some well documented beaked whale mass stranding events

Recent mass strandings of marine mammals, mostly Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) from the family of ziphiidae, have occurred coincident in space and time with human production of high levels of underwater sound. Three of these events, the May 1996 mass stranding along the Greek coast, the Bahamas mass stranding event in March 2000 and the September 2002 event in the Canary Islands, were selected for consideration here since pertinent information was readily available. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the probable characteristics of the sound fields during these events and to search for common features. The acoustic sources in all three cases moved at speeds of 5 knots or greater and generated periodic sequences of high amplitude, transient pulses 15-60s apart that contained significant energy in the 1-10kHz frequency band. The environmental conditions included water depths exceeding 1km close to land. In addition, the depth dependence of the ocean sound speed created an acoustic waveguide whose lower boundary was formed by refraction within the water column. The anthropogenic sources in all cases were located within such waveguides. Under these conditions, sound levels decrease more slowly with increasing range after a certain transition range than otherwise, due to sound focusing and to decreased attenuation because of isolation over extended ranges from the ocean bottom. In addition, the frequency dispersion is such that pulses tend to remain as pulses during propagation. For those events involving near-surface sources in surface ducts, weather conditions were calm leading to minimal sound attenuation and scattering by near-surface bubbles and ocean surface roughness. Quantitative prediction of the actual sound field properties during these events is limited primarily by the lack of knowledge of prevailing environmental conditions. Results from simple numerical modelling show that received sound level increases of up to 20dB occur after the transition range for sources and receivers within refractive waveguides. Data-based semi-empirical models of surface duct propagation provide simple, realistic, quantitative estimates of the mean acoustic field in the duct and the effects of changes in environmental conditions. Numerical modelling of total sound exposure (pressure squared integrated with respect to time) illustrates the importance of the relative velocity and minimum range between source and receiver, indicating that realistic animal motion models are required to obtain representative results. Although several features of the sound fields during these three mass stranding events are very similar, their actual relationship to the strandings is unknown.

Arctic Atmospheric Ducting Characteristics and Their Connections with Arctic Oscillation and Sea Ice

Atmospheric ducting is an anomalous atmospheric structure that affects electromagnetic wave propagation. In the context of global warming, the navigation capacity of the Arctic is increased, and the atmospheric duct can affect communication and navigation in the Arctic. In this study, based on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis data (ERA-interim), the climate characteristics and their variations of atmospheric ducts over the Arctic polar region (north of 60° N) from 1989 to 2018 were analyzed, including the occurrence frequency, spatial distribution, thickness and intensity of the atmospheric ducts. The results show that the overall frequency of atmospheric ducts in the Arctic is low, with the average frequency of all types of ducts being less than 10% throughout the year. The frequency of surface ducts is 2~3 times that of elevated ducts. More than 90% of the atmospheric ducts in the Arctic have a trapped layer with a thickness of less than 100 m, and the average thickness of surface ducts is higher than that of the elevated ducts. The intensity of the Arctic surface ducts is stronger than that of the elevated ducts, with an average intensity of 2.1 M (±2.3 M) to 4.5 M (±4.5 M) for the surface ducts and 1.7 M (±2 M) to 2.5 M (±2.9 M) for the elevated ducts. There is a positive correlation between the ducts’ trapped layer thickness and duct intensity. The variation in atmospheric ducts is responsive to the changes in atmospheric circulation and the sea ice extent. This anomalous circulation changes surface wind in the Arctic, which affects the formation and maintenance of the ducts. The trends of ducts in the Arctic Ocean are consistent with those of the Arctic Sea ice extent, while the Arctic continental and coastal ducts show the opposite trend.

Mesoscale Variability of Surface Ducts During Santa Ana Wind Episodes

AbstractMesoscale variability of the marine boundary layer characteristics and the corresponding radio wave ducting conditions over the Southern California Bight (SCB) during three Santa Ana wind events have been examined based on the analysis of field observations and diagnosis of mesoscale model simulations. Under the influence of a dry and the stably stratified airflow from inland, a shallow moist internal boundary layer (MIBL) develops over the coastal waters. The MIBL consists of a thin well‐mixed moist layer capped by an inversion layer where the specific humidity decreases with height sharply. Accordingly, a surface duct (SD) is virtually ubiquitous with its depth compared with the MIBL depth. The wind direction and the SD characteristics exhibit diurnal variations over the SCB area associated with land and sea breezes. In addition, the MIBL interacts with the coastal topography, Channel Islands, and sea surface temperature gradients, resulting in spatial mesoscale variabilities in SD characteristics. Specifically, the SD height and strength grow with the offshore distance owing to the surface latent heat flux over sea, and in the meantime, exhibit substantial along‐shore variations. The shallow MIBL tends to split and flow around the higher elevation of the islands, leading to the formation of wakes with reduced modified refractivity. These island wakes may extend dozens of kilometers downstream with the SD height and strength growing accordingly.

Effect of Topical 5-Fluorouracil on Lacrimal Drainage System: Histopathological Evidence From Animal Experiments and Potential Clinical Implications.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the histopathological changes in the lacrimal drainage system of rabbits following the application of 1% topical 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for 4 weeks. Ten eyes of 10 healthy New Zealand white rabbits were subjected to topical instillation of 1% (10 mg/mL) 5-FU, 1 drop 4 times a day for 4 weeks. Rabbits underwent a detailed ocular examination including eyelids, ocular surface, punctal, peri-punctal changes, and nasolacrimal duct patency at baseline and after 4 weeks of 5-FU. The rabbits were then sacrificed, and the eyelid, conjunctiva, lacrimal gland, and the entire lacrimal drainage system were retrieved for histopathological analysis as per standard protocols. Clinically demonstrable peripunctal changes and canalicular stenosis were noted in 6 (60%, 6/10) rabbits. Two of these (20%, 2/10) had additional complete regurgitation of clear fluid, indicating a nasolacrimal duct obstruction. The remaining 4 (40%, 4/10) clinically did not demonstrate lacrimal drainage changes and were patent on irrigation. The conjunctiva showed focal loss of goblet cells in several areas. Significant changes were noted in the canalicular, lacrimal sac, and the nasolacrimal duct tissues in the form of epithelial hyperplasia, subepithelial inflammation, edema, dilated and congested vessels, and fibrosis. The lacrimal gland, eyelid tissue (excluding tarsal conjunctiva), and cornea showed no significant histopathological changes. Clinical and histopathological changes were noted in the lacrimal drainage system of rabbits subjected to topical 5-FU application. These findings can have potential clinical implications for patients receiving 5-FU therapy.

Variations of acoustic ducting in the presence of gulf stream warm core rings at the New England shelfbreak

The physical oceanographic (PO) conditions at the New England shelfbreak have become more dynamic with increased warming and meandering of the gulf stream. Consequently, underwater sound propagation in the area has also become more variable. The most profound PO feature that breaks off from Gulf Stream instabilities is warm core rings, which have complex interactions with bathymetry and seasonal shelf water masses. Warm core rings can cause shelf water streamers to extend offshore, resulting in surface and/or subsurface acoustic ducting conditions. This study observed acoustic surface ducting and breakdown conditions induced by a shelf water streamer at the New England shelfbreak. Ducting conditions were variable when a subsequent warm core ring intruded the acoustic source and receiver network, mixing with the shelf water streamer and influencing the sound propagation during and after the acoustic duct breakdown period. The field observations were also compared with a broadband numerical model. With increasing gulf stream warm core ring formations, streamer induced surface ducts are becoming more relevant in shelf break acoustics. [Work supported by the Office of Naval Research.]

Midfrequency sound propagation and reverberation in a deep ice-covered ocean

Two experiments on midfrequency acoustic transmission under ice in the Beaufort Sea are discussed. The APL-ICEX14 measurements were made using 3500 Hz 5s-long CW pulses for fixed geometry of source and receiver at ∼30 m depths and ∼720 m range. The NPS-ICEX16 experiment was performed using CW pulses and LFM sweeps from two mobile 950–3000 Hz transmitters and five spatially separated hydrophones at different combinations of source-receiver ranges (0.3–10km) and depths (45–183m). For analysis of recorded timeseries, a modeling approach is suggested that considers several types of arrivals contributing to the received signal at different time intervals. The direct arrivals corresponding to nearly horizontal propagation are described using a hybrid PE-&ray-based approach, which employs a fast PE code for propagation in a stratified ocean with flat ice-free surface to account for effects of structure and dynamics of the arctic surface duct and then adds a field of an image source whose strength is defined by a complex reflection loss factor of the ice cover at small grazing angles. The direct signal is followed by reverberation coda that is modeled by bottom- and ice-bounced arrivals with corresponding reflectivity and scattering strengths at steep angles. Potential applications to remote sensing in ice-covered environments are discussed. [Work supported by ONR.]