Determining tomographic arrival times based on matched filter processing: Considering the impact of ocean waves

Abstract

Reflection of high-frequency acoustic signals from an air-sea interface with waves is considered in terms of determining travel times for acoustic tomography. Wave-induced, multi-path rays are investigated to determine how they influence the assumption that the time of the largest matched filter magnitude between the source and receiver signals is the best estimate of the arrival time of the flat-surface specular ray path. A simple reflection model is developed to consider the impact of in-plane, multi-path arrivals on the signal detected by a receiver. It is found that the number of multi-path rays between a source and receiver increases significantly with the number of times the ray paths strike the ocean surface. In test cases, there was always one of the multi-path rays that closely followed the flat-surface specular ray path. But all the multi-path rays arrive at the receiver almost simultaneously, resulting in interference with the signal from the flat-surface specular ray path. As a result, multi-path arrivals due to open ocean surface waves often distort the received signal such that maxima of matched filtering magnitudes will not always be a reliable indicator of the arrival time of flat-surface specular ray paths.