Shallow-water bottom reverberation measurements

High-frequency bottom reverberation measurements were made at an experimental site in the Gulf of Mexico. The acoustic data were taken as a function of frequency (40-180 kHz) and grazing angle (40-33/spl deg/). The measured acoustic reverberation results are compared to predictions made by models developed by Jackson et al. (1986, 1996) and Boyle and Chotiros (1995). The models used inputs from the analysis of sediment cores and stereophotography. The model predictions show differences from each other and from the data. The results show reverberation-level variabilities as a function of frequency that cannot be accurately predicted by these models.