A numerical simulation of the effects of oceanic finestructure on acoustic transmission

A simple numerical simulation model is presented which includes the effects of oceanic finestructure together with previously developed theoretical treatments of the effects of internal waves on acoustic transmission. The wave equation solution to particular layer geometries developed by Brekhovskikh [Waves in Layered Media (Academic, New York, 1960)] is combined with the theoretical model of acoustic scattering based on internal waves developed by Desaubies [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 1460–1469 (1978)]. In this treatment it is assumed that a single finestructure layer is passively advected by internal waves. The layer modulates the effects of internal waves. Experiments carried out at Cobb Seamount over a fixed, horizontal, wholly refracted path indicate that the power spectrum of the phase fluctuations is fit almost exactly by models based on internal waves only, while the power spectrum of the log amplitude fluctuations is not. In the present treatment the predictions of the phase fluctuations remain unaffected by the presence of finestructure, and the predicted power spectrum of the log amplitude is in considerably better agreement with observation.