Seasonal effects of sound speed profile on mid-range acoustic propagations modes: Reliable acoustic path and bottom bounce

Abstract

The detection of objects for tens of kilometers’ distance is difficult in the deep sea. For the purpose, Reliable acoustic path (RAP) and bottom bounce (BB) propagation modes are studied and utilized frequently in recent years. In this paper, the seasonal effects of sound speed profile (SSP) on these two modes are simulated and analyzed. From the simulation, it is concluded that the changes of SSP in different seasons have little influence on the transmission loss (TL) on RAP if the receiver depth is below the critical depth of summer, and the BB mode is insensitive to the SSP change, too. The simulations can help us to have a better use of these two propagation modes.