A novel and computationally efficient subgrid technique for modeling scattering and Doppler effects of rough dynamic sea surfaces using the finite-difference time-domain method

Over the last decade, the improvements in computational performance that multiprocessing, solid-state hard drives, and fast memories have brought to desktop workstations have made modeling and simulation methods that were previously inaccessible into the office workspace. These methods were previously restricted to large servers or computer clusters because of their demanding computation and large memory requirements when applied to underwater acoustic simulation scenarios. One such method is the Finite-difference Time-domain (FDTD) technique. The FDTD method is a discrete numeric model that provides the full pressure wave solution solved directly in the time domain. This makes it an ideal model for investigating scattering and Doppler effects of boundaries with complex geometries and motion. A fully developed sea surface generated using the Pierson–Moskowitz wavenumber spectra meets these criteria. A novel subgrid technique has been developed to improve the accuracy of signals scattered from fully developed sea surfaces. This method remains computationally efficient because the subgrid is applied only along the rough sea surface as it varies over time. The FDTD subgrid method has been applied to simulations that investigate the “frozen” sea surface assumption that is utilized by other traditional models that incorporate boundary motion.