Propagation and imaging analysis of vortex acoustic waves in ocean turbulence

Abstract

Abstract Vortex acoustic waves (VAW) with helical phase wavefronts could provide a new dimension for the detection and imaging of targets in the ocean. To explore the propagation characteristics of VAW under the effect of ocean turbulence (OT) and the impact on imaging, the phase screen method is used to simulate the propagation of VAW generated by a phase‐modulated uniform circular array under the effect of OT and the imaging of the target. The phase change and detection probability under the influence of the acoustic wave parameters and OT parameters during the propagation process are studied. Second, the azimuth resolution performance and focussing performance of the target imaging are studied. Under the effect of OT, the VAW of different frequencies and topological modes become scattered, and the degree of scattering is different when the parameters are different; and the resolution performance and focussing performance have also deteriorated. However, the VAW still has a reliable resolution under the effect of medium and low‐intensity OT, which provides theoretical support for the practice of the VAW in underwater target imaging.

Keywords

• ocean turbulence
• orbital angular momentum
• staring imaging
• vortex acoustics waves