Comparison of shallow water mode transport theory with acoustic transmissions during Shallow Water Experiment 2006

Coupled-mode transport theory appears to have put on solid theoretical ground acoustical scattering by internal waves in both deep and shallow water, over a range of low, medium, and high frequencies [Raghukumar and Colosi (2014) and Colosi and Morozov (2009)]. Here, full-field theoretical calculations of the acoustic field moments are compared against experimental data gathered during the Shallow Water Experiment 2006. Transport theory at low frequency is validated using data gathered by the WHOI Shark array at 175 Hz with a source towed by R/V Sharp at several different speeds over distances of 1.5–5.5 km. At high frequencies, comparisons are made at 1.2 kHz using data received by a WHOI bottom-mounted single hydrophone unit with a source towed by CFAV Quest over distances of 0–20 km. Acoustic observables include the mean and variance of intensity. The effect of a range dependent stochastic internal wave field is examined in the context of data-model comparison, along with the effect of random surface w...