Environmental influences on acoustic array design and performance in shallow water

Procedures for selecting array design parameters such as the element spacing and weighting commonly are developed for an assumed plane wave signal. In shallow water environments, however, the field from a localized source differs substantially from a plane wave. Multiple reflections from the ocean surface and bottom create a signal field dominated by multi-path propagation; the signal energy is distributed over a spread of arrival angles in the vertical plane. This paper describes limitations on array performance, as computed for a variety of shallow water signal fields; and compares the results to what would be obtained for a plane wave.