Direct simulations of the three-dimensional acoustic field scattered by objects located on or beneath the seafloor offer valuable insights into target scattering that are difficult to obtain through experimental methods. However, these simulations are computationally intensive, particularly when the source, target, and receiver are separated by distances spanning thousands of acoustic wavelengths. To overcome this challenge, a method was proposed at a recent meeting that decomposes the problem into three stages. First, an analytically known acoustic field is injected at the boundary of a small computational domain surrounding the target. Next, the linearized equations of continuum mechanics are solved directly within this localized region to capture the targets near-field scattering behavior. Finally, the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff theorem is used to propagate the resulting field to far-field receivers. This presentation will focus on the injection of spherical waves into the computational domain and the resulting image constructed from signals received in the far field. Specifically, we will show how numerical experiments can be exploited to unveil the interaction mechanisms between the target and the surrounding environment.
Monti et al. (Wed,) studied this question.