On the scattering of sound by internal waves in the ocean

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Abstract
The parabolic approximation to the wave equation is applied to the calculation of the spectral density of amplitude and phase fluctuations of a plane sound wave propagating through a random field of internal waves in the ocean. The dependence of the predicted spectra on wave number and frequency shows that the lowest-mode internal waves dominate the phase variance, while the amplitude fluctuations are controlled by intermediate scales. The results are compared with previous theories and available data. There is a discrepancy between observed amplitude spectra and predictions based on the internal wave models. It is concluded that internal waves are not solely responsible for the scattering of sound in the ocean and that other effects must contribute.

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