Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Acoustic field estimation in littoral areas is severely limited by uncertainty in sediment property characteristics. Direct methods of obtaining geophysical data are expensive, so inverse methods have recently become popular. Most techniques rely on inverting reverberant signals from controlled active sources received on vertical apertures. This work is focused on using surface ships of opportunity in a range-staggered way to create a range-dependent mosaic of sediment properties and bathymetry with ever increasing confidence. Matched-field/matched-phase techniques and adaptive simulated annealing are applied in a complex simulated shallow-water environment with a single vertical array and high signal-to-noise ratios. These procedures can also be applied to horizontal arrays. The inversion process is evaluated as a function of frequency bandwidth and array length. The simulations indicate significant potential for passive geoacoustic characterizations out to ranges of tens of water depths in shallow water.</jats:p>