Three-dimensional sound scattering from transversely symmetric surface waves in deep and shallow water using the...

Area of Science:

• Underwater acoustics
• Oceanography
• Computational physics

Background:

• Accurate modeling of sound propagation in the ocean is crucial for sonar and underwater communication.
• Sea surface waves significantly impact acoustic fields, especially in shallow waters.
• Existing models often face computational limitations for complex 3-D scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an efficient and accurate three-dimensional (3-D) sound scattering model for transversely symmetric sea surface waves.
• To enable detailed study of acoustic scattering effects in both deep and shallow water environments.
• To provide a computationally feasible tool for Monte Carlo simulations of random rough sea surfaces.

Main Methods:

• Utilizes the equivalent source method (ESM) to calculate the 3-D sound field.
• Employs a cosine transform to integrate 2-D transformed fields with varying out-of-plane wavenumbers.
• Incorporates a complex image method for efficient 2-D Green's function calculation and a segmented integral scheme for accurate cosine integral evaluation.

Main Results:

• The proposed model accurately calculates 3-D sound scattering from sea surface waves.
• Validation against 3-D Helmholtz-Kirchhoff and finite element methods confirms model accuracy.
• Demonstrates superior numerical efficiency compared to finite element methods, enabling large-scale simulations.

Conclusions:

• The ESM-based model provides a highly accurate and computationally efficient solution for underwater acoustic scattering.
• The model's efficiency facilitates Monte Carlo simulations for random sea surfaces, enhancing understanding of scattering phenomena.
• Further analysis of 3-D pulse propagation reveals insights into out-of-plane scattering effects in shallow water wedges.