Ray Trace Modeling of Underwater Sound Propagation

Modeling acoustic propagation conditions is an important issue in underwater acoustics and there exist several mathematical/numerical models based on different approaches. Some of the most used approaches are based on ray theory, modal expansion and wave number integration techniques. Ray acoustics and ray tracing techniques are the most intuitive and often the simplest means for modeling sound propagation in the sea. Ray acoustics is based on the assumption that sound propagates along rays that are normal to wave fronts, the surfaces of constant phase of the acoustic waves. When generated from a point source in a medium with constant sound speed, the wave fronts form surfaces that are concentric circles, and the sound follows straight line paths that radiate out from the sound source. If the speed of sound is not constant, the rays follow curved paths rather than straight ones. The computational technique known as ray tracing is a method used to calculate the trajectories of the ray paths of sound from the source.