Application of the Fourier pseudo spectral time-domain method in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates for near-rigid moderately curved surfaces

The Fourier pseudospectral time-domain method is an efficient wave-based method to model sound propagation in inhomogeneous media. One of the limitations of the method for atmospheric sound propagation purposes is its restriction to a Cartesian grid, confining it to staircase-like geometries. A transform from the physical coordinate system to the curvilinear coordinate system has been applied to solve more arbitrary geometries. For applicability of this method near the boundaries, the acoustic velocity variables are solved for their curvilinear components. The performance of the curvilinear Fourier pseudospectral method is investigated in free field and for outdoor sound propagation over an impedance strip for various types of shapes. Accuracy is shown to be related to the maximum grid stretching ratio and deformation of the boundary shape and computational efficiency is reduced relative to the smallest grid cell in the physical domain. The applicability of the curvilinear Fourier pseudospectral time-domain method is demonstrated by investigating the effect of sound propagation over a hill in a nocturnal boundary layer. With the proposed method, accurate and efficient results for sound propagation over smoothly varying ground surfaces with high impedances can be obtained.