In this paper, a depth-bistatic bottom reverberation model that employs the ray theory is presented. The model can be applied to an active towed array in the ocean. The reverberation time series are modeled under the depth-bistatic assumption and their Doppler shift is calculated based on the actual source–receiver geometry. This model can handle N × 2D range-dependent bathymetry, the geometry of a triplet array, and the Doppler motion of the source, targets, and receiver. The model predictions are compared with the mid-frequency reverberation data measured by an active triplet towed array during August 2015 in the East Sea, Korea. These data are collected with a variable depth source at mid-frequency and the triplet line array in a deep-water environment. Model predictions of the beam time series and its spectrogram are in good agreement with the measurement. In particular, we discuss the effects of the source and receiver depths on the reverberation in deep water observed in both the measured and modeled results.

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Actual maritime exercise for improving the capability of submarine sonar operator leads to a lot of cost and constraints. Sonar simulator maximizes the capability of sonar operator and training effect by solving these problems and simulating a realistic battlefield environment. In this study, a passive sonar simulator algorithm is suggested, where the simulator is divided into three modules: maneuvering module, noise source module, and sound propagation module. Maneuvering module is implemented in three-dimensional coordinate system and time interval is set as the rate of vessel changing course. Noise source module consists of target noise, ocean ambient noise, and self noise. Target noise is divided into modulated/unmodulated and narrowband/broadband signals as their frequency characteristics, and they are applied to ship radiated noise level depending on the vessel tonnage and velocity. Ocean ambient noise is simulated depending on the wind noise considering the waveguide effect and other ambient noise. Self noise is also simulated for flow noise and insertion loss of sonar-dome. The sound propagation module is based on ray propagation, where summation of amplitude, phase, and time delay for each eigen-ray is multiplied by target noise in the frequency domain. Finally, simulated results based on various scenarios are in good agreement with generated noise in the real ocean.

We observed a distinct drop-off region in the bearing-time record of acoustic reverberation data acquired from the south-western continental margin of the Ulleung Basin, East Sea, in the summer of 2015. 3 kHz continuous waves with pulse lengths of 0.1, 0.3, and 1.0 s were used as source pulses, with an R/V Cheonghae vessel towing a variable depth source and a triplet towed array toward the deep sea from shallow water. The observed pattern changed as the R/V Cheonghae moved across the continental slope further into the sea. This pattern arises as a result of the downward-refracted beams in the 1/2 convergence zone interacting with the soft bottom. In addition, the boundary of the drop-off region was modeled with the two-way maximum travel time of the first bottom-reflected rays using the bathymetry model of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, 2020. Some discrepancies were observed when comparing the modeled curve to the measured results, and the inaccuracy of the bathymetry model on the continental slope could be the main cause of these discrepancies. This pattern could be useful for bathymetry mapping, as well as estimations of source and receiver configurations.