Broadband Geoacoustic Deduction

A two-stage approach to the geoacoustic inversion problems of selected Workshop '97 test cases is described. Initial parameters are deduced by inspection of transmission losses versus range, depth and frequency, and comparison with the calibration case. These provide a starting point for a conventional matched-field inversion applied to individual frequency data sets for a vertical array at 5-km range using the normal mode model SUPERSNAP and the standard Bartlett processor. Grid searches are carried out over pairs of parameters using: 500-Hz data to establish the sediment density and top sediment sound speed, 100-Hz data to estimate the sound speed gradient in the sediment layer and 25-Hz data for the remaining parameters. Results and error bounds are presented for two realizations of the SD workshop case. Partial results are presented for the SO case. Issues regarding SUPERSNAP/SAFARI mismatches are also discussed.