Study of absorption loss effects on acoustic wave propagation in shallow water using different empirical models

Efficient underwater acoustic communication and target locating systems require detailed study of acoustic wave propagation in the sea. Many investigators have studied the absorption of acoustic waves in ocean water and formulated empirical equations such as Thorp's formula, Schulkin and Marsh model and Fisher and Simmons formula. The Fisher and Simmons formula found the effect associated with the relaxation of boric acid on absorption and provided a more detailed form of absorption coefficient which varies with frequency. However, no simulation model has made for the underwater acoustic propagation using these models. This paper reports the comparative study of acoustic wave absorption carried out by means of modeling in MATLAB. The results of simulation have been evaluated using measured data collected at Desaru beach on the eastern shore of Johor in Malaysia. The model has been used to determine sound absorption for given values of depth (D), salinity (S), temperature (T), pH, and acoustic wave transmitter frequency (f). From the results a suitable range, depth and frequency can be found to obtain best propagation link with low absorption loss