Influence of scattering, atmospheric refraction, and ground effect on sound propagation through a pine forest

Sound propagation through a forest is affected by the microclimate in the canopy, scattering by trunks and stems, and ground reflection. Each of these effects is such a strong contributor to the attenuation of sound that mutual interactions between the phenomena could become important. A sound propagation model for use in a forest has been developed that incorporates scattering from trunks and branches and atmospheric refraction by modifying the effective wave number in the Green's function parabolic equation model. The ground effect for a hard-backed pine straw layer is approximated as a local reaction impedance condition. Comparisons to experimental data are made for frequencies up to 4,200 Hz. Cumulative influences of the separate phenomena are examined. The method developed in this paper is compared to previously published methods. The overall comparison with spectral transmission data is good, suggesting that the model captures the necessary details.