default Seabed characterization by inversion of acoustic propagation and reverberation data received on a towed horizontal array

Seabed characterization by inversion of acoustic propagation and reverberation data received on a towed horizontal array. Nielsen, Peter L. ; Fallat, Mark ; Marconi, Valter. SR-417. February 2005.

Sonar performance prediction in shallow-water is highly dependent on the char-acteristics of the underwater environment. The bottom properties are critical input parameters to prediction tools and these parameters are probably the most dicult to estimate. Inversion of measured acoustic signals (direct propagation and diffuse reverberation) provides a technique to infer these bottom parameters. An ad-hoc approach using the sensors of the sonar system is proposed where the local geoacoustic properties are determined by inverting the data received on a horizontal array. The local geoacoustic properties are used as initial or guidance inputs to a reverberation model to estimate range-averaged geoacoustic and scattering properties from long-range reverberation data.