A geometric model for the spatial correlation of an acoustic vector field in surface-generated noise

Abstract

Spatial correlation of sound pressure and particle velocity of the surface noise in horizontally stratified media was demonstrated, with directional noise sources uniformly distributed on the ocean surface. In the evaluation of particle velocity, plane wave approximation was applied to each incident ray. Due to the equivalence of the sound source correlation property and its directivity, solutions for the spatial correlation of the field were transformed into the integration of the coherent function generated by a single directional source. As a typical horizontally stratified media, surface noise in a perfect waveguide was investigated. Correlation coefficients given by normal mode and geometric models show satisfactory agreement. Also, the normalized covariance between sound pressure and the vertical component of particle velocity is proportional to acoustic absorption coefficient, while that of the surface noise in semi-infinitely homogeneous space is zero.

Keywords

spatial correlation / sound pressure and particle velocity / surface noise / stratified media / ray theory