Studies of Observed and Predicted Values of Bottom Reflectivity as a Function of Incident Angle

Abstract

A theoretical model of the ocean bottom has been developed for studies of bottom reflectivity. The model consists of many absorbing liquid, plane parallel layers over one semiinfinite solid. Using this model, computations of reflection coefficients as a function of incident angle were performed. Measurements of the acoustic reflectivity of an area of Atlantic Ocean bottom, using a deep streamed projector and two deep-fixed receiving hydrophones, were made at a frequency of 1000 cps and for two pulse lengths. The experimentally derived reflection coefficients are analyzed on the basis of pulse length, for each hydrophone, and comparison is made with the predicted coefficients obtained from the theoretical model.