Austin, Melanie Elizabeth2012-04-252012-04-2520122012-04-25http://hdl.handle.net/1828/3906Ocean environments with sloped seafloors can give rise to sound paths that do not remain in a constant plane of propagation. Numerical modelling of sound fields in such environments requires the use of computer models that fully account for out-of-plane sound propagation effects. The inclusion of these three-dimensional effects can be computationally intensive and the effects are often neglected in computer sound propagation codes. The current state-of-the art in sound propagation modelling has seen the development of models that can fully account for out-of-plane sound propagation. Such a model has been implemented in this research to provide acoustic consultants JASCO Applied Sciences with an important tool for environmental noise impact assessment in complicated marine environments. The model is described and validation results are shown for benchmark test cases. The model is also applied to study three-dimensional propagation effects in measured data from a realistic ocean environment. Particular analysis techniques assist in the interpretation of the modelled sound field for this physical test environment providing new insight into the characteristics of the test environment.enthree-dimensional sound propagationparabolic equation modellingunderwater sound propagationbathymetric effectsout-of-plane effectsThesisAvailable to the World Wide Web