Acoustic fluctuations in shallow water

Acoustic signals propagating through the ocean are refracted, scattered, and attenuated by the ocean volume and boundaries. These factors have a large effect on received signal amplitude and phase. Often these fluctuating signals act as a performance limitation to underwater acoustic systems. Quantitative knowledge of these fluctuations in a waveguide is considered as an advantage in system design such as sonar and communication receiver. Typical fluctuation parameters such as temporal coherence and fluctuation index estimated from measured data are presented.