Transport Theory for Shallow Water Propagation with Rough Boundaries

At frequencies of about 1 kHz and higher, forward scattering from a rough sea surface (and/or a rough bottom) can strongly affect shallow water propagation and reverberation. The need exists for a fast, yet accurate method for modeling such propagation where multiple forward scattering occurs. A transport theory method based on mode coupling is described that yields the first and second moments of the field. This approach shows promise for accurately treating multiple forward scattering in one-way propagation. The method is presently formulated in two space dimensions, and Monte-Carlo rough surface PE simulations are used for assessing the accuracy of transport theory results.