High-Fidelity Model for Sonar Interrogation of Bottom and Surface Targets in Shallow Water

Many problems of current interest in the area of underwater acoustics involve sonar interrogation of objects near the surface or bottom of a shallow-water waveguide. When the target is situated near the upper or lower boundaries of the water column the acoustic interactions with the target are complicated by interactions with the nearby free surface or fluid-sediment interface. We present a numerical method to address such situations. The model provides high levels of accuracy, computational efficiency, and the flexibility to model complex, realistic targets in range-independent environments. The method is demonstrated using a relatively simple bottom target scenario. The results for several different situations are examined