An ambient noise model for the northeast Pacific Ocean basin

An ambient noise model for the Northeast Pacific Ocean Basin is presented. This model possesses the capability of synthesizing the noise field, with resolution in the vertical and horizontal finer than 1/spl deg/. Simulation results utilizing the synthesized field are shown to be in excellent agreement with measured horizontal directionality, vertical directionality, and depth dependence data for frequencies from 12.5 to 250 Hz. An important difference between this model and other models is the consideration of the SOFAR channel component, which is the dominant noise at these low frequencies. It is shown that only when this component of the noise is included can the simulation results be expected to agree with measured data.