Evolving trends and challenges in applied underwater acoustic modeling

Prominent trends and challenges in applied underwater acoustic modeling have been motivated largely by marine-mammal protection research focused on the mitigation of naval-sonar, seismic-source, and pile-driving noise. Channel modeling, underwater-acoustic networks, and communications technologies have evolved to support the increased bandwidths needed for undersea data collection. Energy-flux models, not traditionally used in naval sonar applications, have proved useful for assessing marine-mammal impacts. Developments in inverse sensing include seismic oceanography, which employs low-frequency marine seismic reflection data to image ocean dynamics. Interest in the polar regions has increased due to the well-publicized effects of global warming. Collectively, these trends have added new analytical tools to the existing inventory of propagation, noise, reverberation, and sonar performance models.