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Abstract:
Models of acoustic scattering from the seafloor generally assume that sediment heterogeneity is statistically homogeneous with single-scale correlation structure. Current statistical descriptions of the seafloor are incapable of capturing information about complex seafloor heterogeneities that are often encountered in marine environments (e.g. non-uniform or clustered scatterers, patchiness in the sediment physical properties). Seafloor complexity is due to a variety of processes including bioturbation (burrows, fish pock marks), biogenic deposits (shell lags), hydrodynamics factors (ripples), and geological processes that create stratification and non-uniform deposition (flaser bedding), for example. An overly simplified description of the seafloor will lead to errors in acoustic model predictions, uncertainty in interpreting measurements of acoustic scattering, and unreliable inversions for environmental parameters. This investigation addresses the effects of complex and non-Gaussian seafloor heterogeneity on scattering. A combination of numerical modeling, stochastic process modeling, and field data analysis are employed to investigate the errors and uncertainty associated with using incomplete models of seafloor randomness.
| Limitations: |
 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE |
| Description: |
Final rept. 20 Feb 2002-31 Dec 2004 |
| Pages: |
12 |
| Report Date: |
05 AUG 2005 |
| Contract Number: |
N000140210341 |
| Report Number: |
A493634 |
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