Angular variation in the simulated reflection and scattering properties of granular poroelastic ocean sediments.

Reflection and scattering properties of an inhomogeneous poroelastic medium were studied via numerical simulation. The inhomogeneous medium was modeled as an ensemble average of randomly layered poroelastic material. Each layer represented a granular material of a particular grainsize. The thickness of each layer was related to the associated grainsize and porosity by a conservation of mass relationship. Lateral variations in grainsize were approximated by performing a coherent ensemble average of results from several realizations of the randomly stratified medium. Poroelastic medium parameters were chosen to represent water‐saturated sand. The mean and standard deviation of the grainsize distribution were chosen to match existing experimental data in order to test the model. Specifically, the inhomogeneous medium was modeled as bounded by a homogeneous water half‐space on the source side, and a homogeneous poroelastic half‐space of equivalent average porosity on the other side. Reflected signals were com...