Sound propagation in a shallow water arctic waveguide with an ice cover

Model of the sound channel typical for shallow water seas of the Arctic Ocean is developed. This model includes ice cover roughness and gassy sedimentary layer. Sound field is represented as a sum of coupled modes in the framework of transection approach. Summing is performed over propagating and leaky modes. Thus the model is legitimate even for small ranges from a sound source (~ one waveguide depth) and for low sound speed bottoms (sound speed is less than that in water). Using the developed model, numerical simulations are carried out for sound propagation under ice cover. Ice draft realizations are taken from the database (http://nsidc.org/data/G01360). Results of the numerical simulations demonstrate that the presence of ice cover may cause the increase in transmission loss, that should be taken into account when designing hydroacoustic systems in arctic seas.