Distribution of surface‐generated noise in a three‐dimensional environment

Modeling the distribution of noise generated at the ocean surface over a wide ocean area with a spatially variable source level distribution in a three‐dimensional (3D) environment requires the capability of efficiently computing the acoustic field from all points on the surface to all points in the ocean. A previously developed noise theory is modified [W. A. Kuperman and F. Ingenito J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 1988–1996 (1985)] and is combined with an approximate numerical technique for computing transmission loss in a 3‐D environment based on adiabatic mode theory [M. P. Porter, W. A. Kuperman, F. Ingenito, and A. Piacsek, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Suppl. 1 81, S9 (1987)]. The wave equation solution of the acoustic field (or its cross‐spectral density) from any point to any point (or to any pair of points) reduces to a “spreadsheet” type manipulation of precomputed modal solutions. This 3‐D range‐dependent numerical scheme is shown to reduce to analytic expressions for the distribution of noise in a horizontally...