Model-Based Calculations in Support of Inverse-Acoustic Sensing of the Ocean

Inverse-acoustic sensing of the ocean provides useful adjunct methods for obtaining synoptic portraitures of large ocean areas, monitoring long-term variations in the ocean or performing rapid environmental assessments in remote locations. Inverse methods extract information from direct measurements of the physical properties of the ocean and then combine these measurements with theoretical models of underwater acoustics. The objective is to estimate detailed underwater acoustic fields from sparse physical measurements using the theoretical models as guides. Existing models of underwater acoustic propagation, noise and reverberation are summarized in charts that discriminate attributes useful in inverse applications