Effects of Tidally-Varying Sound Speed on Acoustic Propagation over a Sloping Ocean Bottom.

Abstract

The influence of sound-speed fluctuations on propagation of a CW signal in an ocean with a uniformly-sloping bottom and a horizontal surface is analyzed using ray theory. The mean sound-speed structure is modeled as bilinear, with bottomed source and receiver above and below the SOFAR axis, respectively. The horizontally-independent fluctuations oscillate with a 12-h period in the upper ocean. An examination is made of possible types of rays for down-slop propagation that might exist, depending on bottom-slope angle and source-receiver separation. The total acoustic field is investigated for its dependence on these parameters and time. For certain conditions when up to three rays comprise the mean total field, three patterns of time evolution are described, each of which may have significant amplitude variations. Numerically-computed examples of each type are presented. The linear relationships between phase variations of individual rays and the sound-speed fluctuations are derived. Then, formulas are developed to explain the most frequent behavior of the relative amplitude and phase of the multipath total field. Predictions from the formulas show very good agreement with the numerical calculations. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA064660

Entities

People

  • K. G. Hamilton
  • M. J. Jacobson
  • William L. Siegmann

Organizations

  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Fields
  • Acoustic Phenomena
  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Properties
  • Acoustics
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Deep Oceans
  • Equations
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Geography
  • Military Research
  • New York
  • Physics Laboratories
  • Reflection
  • Seabed
  • Travel Time

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Wave Propagation and Nonlinear Chaotic Dynamics.