Abstract: Ocean reverberation is the sum of the echoes caused by the ocean environment.For target detection, it is serious interference, but for the detection of biological organisms and remote sensing in the ocean, it is a fundamental tool. After almost a century of theoretical and experimental research, the mechanism and characteristics of deep ocean reverberation has become relatively clear. However, shallow water reverberation is not so clear because of the complexity of shallow ocean environments, and most work has focused on its mean and statistical characteristics;its full nature will be a central topic for research in the near future. In this paper we shall review the basic theory and applications of shallow water reverberation.