A key task in the JOMOPANS project is to select verified and validated modelling methods applicable for generating maps of ambient noise in the North Sea, with a focus on ships and wind as the dominant sources of sound. Accurate modelling of underwater ambient noise and being able to quantify the uncertainty in the model predictions are both relevant for the assessment of good environmental status as well as for sonar performance modelling. The model types considered are based on energy-flux integration, analytical and numerical mode solvers, parabolic equation range step integration, ray tracking and wavenumber integration. Recommendations on the use of these models are given and limitations are discussed. The results show that the majority of the tested models are in agreement for a range-independent shallow water environment, providing a reliable benchmark solution for the future verification of other propagation models. The observed agreement gives confidence that these models are correctly configured and able to provide numerically correct solutions. The solutions provided in this paper can be used as a reference to select the optimal compromise between reducing the computational complexity and increasing the model precision for the propagation of sound in shallow water.

Link To Publication