Title: The effect of a layer of varying density on spatial correlation of sea-bottom backscattering signal 

Author: LI Dandan； WANG Changhong； ZHAO Erliang； QIU Wei； 

Affiliation: Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences； University of Chinese Academy of Sciences； 

Abstract: The research is about the effect of a layer of varying density of sea-bottom sediments on spatial correlation of sea-bottom backscattering. The relationship between scattering cross section and spatial correlation is that backscattering cross section decreases quickly and the spatial correlation becomes stronger as the incident angle increases. Therefore, the density depth profile is introduced into sea-bottom high-frequency backscattering echo model, which is used to simulate sea-bottom backscattering and calculate the function of spatial correlation. The influence of the density gradient on spatial correlation of sea-bottom backscattering is investigated by analyzing the relations between vertical gradient of density and the scattering cross section. As can be seen from the simulation results, the impact of the density gradient on the spatial correlation is found more significant. While the density gradient increases, the scattering cross-section and the radius of the spatial correlation broaden, the spatial correlation becomes stronger. At the same time, the scattering cross-section decreases more quickly as the incident angle increases.