A Chebyshev collocation method for directly solving two-dimensional ocean acoustic propagation in linearly varying seabed.

Abstract

It is one of the most concerning problems in hydroacoustics to find a method that can calculate the acoustic propagation accurately and adapt to the variation of the seabed. Currently, the one-dimensional spectral method has been employed to address the simplified ocean acoustic propagation model successfully. However, due to the model's application limitations and approximation error, it poses challenges when attempting to solve real-world ocean acoustic fields. Hence, there is a crucial need to develop a direct solution method for the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation of ocean acoustic propagation, without relying on a simplified model. In previous work, we achieved successful solutions for the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation within a rectangular domain, utilizing a collocation-type spectral method. Taking into account the fluctuations in the actual seabed, we introduce a Chebyshev collocation spectral method to directly tackle the two-dimensional ocean acoustic propagation problem, which could solve the case of a seabed with linear variation, sound velocity variation and inhomogeneous medium situation. After comparative verification, the calculation result of the two-dimensional spectral method is more accurate than traditional mature models such as Kraken and COUPLE. By eliminating model constraints and enlarging the solution range, this spectral method holds immense potential in real marine environments.