Design and implementation of an acoustic simulator of noise level distribution in the ocean

We present a tool which aims at being a compromise between accuracy and feasibility for the generation of acoustics maps of noise distribution in the ocean. In general, the main difficulty is connected to the correct taking into account of the source characteristics because source implementation in numerical codes dedicated to ocean acoustics is often simple. This is the reason why we chose to evaluate the sound field in the vicinity of the source by means of an accurate numerical method such as the finite spectral-element method and to couple the results provided by this numerical method to more classical numerical models. We will consider the coupling with a ray tracing software and with a code implementing the parabolic approximation method. In this way, the spectral element method will act as a starter for the parabolic equation method. For the ray tracing software, it will provide an initial directivity. Some results of the implementation of such a numerical solution for different configurations are presented. We will show that complex source configurations in complex environments can be considered leading to the possibility of generating more accurate acoustic maps.