GOMEX08 — High frequency acoustic propagation over the Alabama Alps

The objective of this work is to diagnose high frequency acoustic propagation directly from oceanographic data and ocean models. To achieve this objective a joint acoustic and oceanographic experiment was performed in the Gulf of Mexico in the summer of 2008. This paper will show that high frequency acoustic propagation at 17.5 kHz tracks the estimated turbulent dissipation rate obtained from field measurements and that ocean modeling gives reasonable estimates of both the turbulent dissipation rate and sound speed. The ocean model sound speed structure is used in an acoustic model to simulate the measured acoustic fluctuations at 17.5 kHz over a four hour period.