This study presents the description of the parameterization of sound speed distribution in the Sea of Japan in the presence of a synoptic eddy. An analytical representation of the background sound speed profile (SSP) on its periphery is proposed. The perturbation of sound speed directly associated with the presence of an eddy is investigated. The proposed parameterization of the background SSP leads to a Sturm–Liouville problem for normal mode computation, which is equivalent to the eigenvalue problem for the Schrödinger equation with the Morse potential. This equivalence leads to simple analytical formulae for normal modes and their respective horizontal wavenumbers. It is shown that in the presence of an eddy causing moderate variations in sound speed, the standard perturbation theory for acoustic modes can be applied to describe the variability in horizontal wavenumbers across the area in which the eddy is localized. The proposed parameterization can be applied to the sound propagation modeling in the Sea of Japan.

The precision of acoustic ranging and navigation depends on the accuracy of the information about the sound speed field in the area of interest. Large-scale inhomogeneities in the bottom relief and water column can significantly affect the horizontal rays corresponding to vertical modes (in the framework of Burridge–Weinberg formalism), which can lead to delays in the acoustic signal modal components, as compared to propagation along the geodesics on the Earth’s surface. In this study, the influence of horizontal refraction on the delay times of the modal components is considered. In particular, it is studied to what extent the presence of a synoptic eddy near the source–receiver path increases the effective propagation distances due to horizontal refraction. The elongation of horizontal eigenrays relative to the geodesic connecting the source and the receiver is also estimated. The influence of hydrological inhomogeneities on the propagation time of different modal components of a broadband acoustic signal is investigated. This is accomplished by the integration of the group slowness (reciprocal to the group speed) along the horizontal eigenrays connecting the locations of the source and the receiver. Implications for improving the accuracy of the solution of acoustic ranging problems are discussed.

Разработка систем акустической навигации и акустической дальнометрии в настоящее время является одной из наиболее актуальных практических задач акустики океана. В работе исследуется вопрос о влиянии крупномасштабных неоднородностей поля скорости звука в океане на точность решения задачи акустической дальнометрии. В качестве примера такой неоднородности нами выбран устойчивый антициклонический вихрь, наблюдающийся в южной части Японского моря в летний период. В работе проведены вычислительные эксперименты по исследованию влияния этого вихря на структуру звукового поля, формируемого на акустической трассе, проходящей через его центр, источником навигационных сигналов (ИНС), расположенным на шельфе. В ходе этих экспериментов по гидрологическим данным, полученным с помощью моделей глобальной циркуляции океана NEMO и ИВМ РАН, для этой трассы построена модель нерегулярного волновода «шельф–глубокий океан», после чего с помощью метода широкоугольных параболических уравнений выполнено моделирование акустического поля, формируемого ИНС в таком волноводе. Далее в работе также выполнен анализ модовой структуры этого поля, определены интервалы локализации различных модальных компонент сигнала и рассчитаны эффективные скорости распространения сигналов от ИНС на различных горизонтах приема, после чего исследовано влияние синоптического вихря на данные характеристики волновода. На основе этого анализа выполнены оценки влияния вихря на времена прихода сигналов от ИНС в точку приема, а также дополнительная погрешность решения задачи акустической дальнометрии, обусловленная этим влиянием. Результаты исследования показывают, что в рамках рассматриваемой методики решения задачи акустической дальнометрии даже относительно крупный неучтенный синоптический вихрь, ядро которого находится непосредственно на трассе, оказывает относительно слабое влияние на точность определения дальности (около 30 м для трассы протяженностью 300 км, или 0,01%). The development of acoustic navigation and acoustic ranging systems is currently one of the most important practical problems of ocean acoustics. In this study, the influence of large-scale inhomogeneities on the sound speed field in the ocean on the accuracy of acoustic ranging problem solution is considered. As a representative example of an inhomogeneity of this kind, we chose a stable anticyclonic eddy that is observed in the southern part of the sea of Japan in summer. In this work, computational experiments are conducted in order to study the influence of this eddy on the structure of the sound field formed along an acoustic path passing through the eddy's center by a source of navigation signals (SNS) located on the shelf. In the course of these experiments, a model of a range-dependent "shallow-to-deep-sea" waveguide was constructed along this path using hydrological data obtained from NEMO and INM RAS global ocean circulation models. After that, the acoustic field produced by the SNS in this waveguide was simulated by the method of wide-angle parabolic equations. The mode structure of the field along the path is studied, localization intervals of various modal components of the signal are determined, and the effective propagation velocities of signals transmitted by SNS are calculated at various reception horizons. The influence of the synoptic eddy on these waveguide characteristics is also investigated. On the basis of this analysis, the effect of the eddy on arrival times of the signals propagating from the SNS to the reception point is estimated, as well as the additional error in the solution of acoustic ranging problem caused by the presence of the eddy. The results of the study show, that within the framework of the considered technique of acoustic ranging problem solution, even the presence of a large unaccounted synoptic eddy, with its core located directly on the acoustic path, has a relatively weak effect on the accuracy of range estimation (about 30 m for a path 300 km long, or 0,01%).