Acoustic Waves in the Turbulent Atmosphere: A Review

Abstract

The subject of atmospheric acoustics and its role in atmospheric research and in development of modern methods of ground-based remote sensing of the atmosphere are outlined. A historical overview of investigations of the effect of atmospheric turbulence on sound propagation is presented, with an emphasis on the research carried out in Russia simultaneously with the creation of the Kolmogorov?Obukhov theory of locally homogenous and locally isotropic turbulence. The main theoretical and experimental results on acoustic wave fluctuations and scattering, which were obtained on the basis of the classic Kolmogorov?Obukhov theory, are summarized. Departures of the real atmospheric turbulence from the classic model and present-day conceptions of turbulence are discussed briefly. Some results of the current experimental study of sonic and infrasonic wave propagation in the atmospheric boundary layer and in the middle atmosphere are presented. It is shown that the peculiarities of the real atmospheric turbulence (such as intermittency and anisotropy of turbulence, the occurrence of quasi-regular mesoscale inhomogeneities, joint effects of turbulence and nonlinearity, etc.) have a strong influence on the parameters of acoustic signals and must be taken into account. The partial revision and modernization of the theory of sound propagation in turbulent media would lead to more successful use of acoustic waves in atmospheric research.