Geoacoustic inversion by mode amplitude perturbation

This paper introduces a perturbative inversion algorithm for determining sea floor acoustic properties, which uses modal amplitudes as input data. Perturbative inverse methods have been used in the past to estimate bottom acoustic properties in sediments, but up to this point these methods have used only the modal eigenvalues as input data. As with previous perturbative inversion methods, the one developed in this paper solves the nonlinear inverse problem using a series of approximate, linear steps. Examples of the method applied to synthetic and experimental data are provided to demonstrate the method's feasibility. Finally, it is shown that modal eigenvalue and amplitude perturbation can be combined into a single inversion algorithm that uses all of the potentially available modal data. (c) 2008 Acoustical Society of America.