Capturing uncertainties of the underwater acoustic environment based on an ocean-acoustic coupled model

Considering the uncertain effects of temporal and spatial changes in the marine en- vironment on the underwater acoustic environment, we established an ocean-acoustic coupled numerical model and performed a parallel calculation. This model incorporated acoustic calcu- lations into the dynamic ocean, thereby achieving a dynamic forecasting and assessment of the acoustic environment. Furthermore, we adopted the ensemble prediction method to predict the vertical structure of temperature in a classic cross-section, the sound speed of the cross-section of the investigated sea area, and transmission losses. We gave the prediction errors of the sound speed profile as well as the 90% probability interval of transmission losses and the uncertainty histograms of the sound speeds, transmission losses, and sonar ranges at different depths and frequencies. The results reflected the influence of marine temporal and spacial variations on the uncertainties of the underwater acoustic environment, and the results also quantified the uncertainties of the underwater acoustic environment parameters. The experimental results indicate that the method used in this study is able to delineate and quantify the uncertainties of the underwater acoustic environment caused by marine dynamic changes.