A phase regulated back wave propagation technique for geoacoustic inversion

Area of Science:

• Oceanography
• Acoustics
• Geophysics

Background:

• Accurate estimation of geoacoustic parameters is crucial for underwater acoustic modeling.
• Traditional inversion methods can struggle with low-sensitivity parameters and noisy data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an inversion method for geoacoustic parameter estimation using back wave propagation (BWP).
• To enhance the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the BWP method through phase regulation.
• To address the impact of additive noise on the inversion process.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a back wave propagation (BWP) algorithm for geoacoustic inversion.
• Introduction of a phase-regulation technique to boost sensitivity to low-sensitivity geoacoustic parameters.
• Development of a spatial variance criterion based on signal energy distribution for inversion guidance.
• Application of a multistep search process to simplify inversion complexity.

Main Results:

• The phase-regulation technique theoretically increases method sensitivity by a factor alpha.
• Increased alpha values improve the spatial resolution of signal energy concentration by BWP.
• A novel inversion criterion based on spatial energy distribution proves effective.
• Successful inversion results obtained from both simulated and experimental data.

Conclusions:

• The proposed BWP method with phase regulation offers an effective approach for geoacoustic parameter estimation.
• The spatial variance criterion provides a robust method for guiding the inversion process.
• The technique is validated with real-world data from a shallow water experiment.