Weak Scattering of Sound Waves in Random Media That Have Arbitrary Power-Law Spectra

Abstract

Log-amplitude and phase variances of a weakly scattered acoustic signal are calculated for line-of-sight propagation through a random medium. The spectrum of the index-of-refraction fluctuations in the random medium is assumed to scale in proportion to the wavenumber raised to an arbitrary power in the limit of large wavenumbers (small spatial scales). Both scalar and vector contributions to the index of refraction are considered. Most of the calculated results reduce to those given by Tatarskii (1971) and Ostashev (1994) when the power law exponent is -5/3, which is the value characteristic of turbulence. However, the results do not exactly reduce to an equation given by Flatte et al (1994) for the log-amplitude variance in terms of strength and diffraction parameters. The equation from Flatte et al is shown to be an approximation, strictly valid only when the spectral energy in the random medium is concentrated at a well-defined outer scale.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA363637

Entities

People

  • D. K. Wilson

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Propagation
  • Acoustic Waves
  • Acoustics
  • Amplitude
  • Atmospheric Motion
  • Atmospheric Sciences
  • Diffraction
  • Equations
  • Information Science
  • Internal Waves
  • Plane Waves
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Sound Waves
  • Spectra
  • Spherical Waves
  • Turbulence

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

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