Broadband recordings of explosion pulses distorted by refraction in the ocean, and their applicability to oceanic acoustics research

This paper presents a review of the experimental data on the refraction of underwater explosion shock waves. Broadband pressure-vs-time recordings are described, and their characteristics are related to the appropriate regions of calculated ray diagrams: shadow zones, caustics, single-arrival, and multiple-arrival regions. Although the experiments were directed toward explosive applications, the results are useful for acoustic research also in that the broadband pulse recordings provide clear data on pressure amplification, arrival angle, relative arrival time, and phase shift, for each arrival in a multiple-arrival pulse.