Geoacoustic inversion in range-dependent ocean environments using a plane wave reflection coefficient approach

A new, efficient, versatile ray-based model is presented that performs geoacoustic inversions in range-dependent ocean waveguides faster than alternative forward models for which the computation time becomes extremely long, especially for broadband inversions. The water propagation is approximately separated from the seabed interaction using predetermined bathymetry and a possibly range-dependent water sound speed profile. The geometrical optics approximation is used to calculate eigenrays between sources and receivers, including bottom reflecting paths. Modeled broadband pressure fields are obtained by computing the plane wave reflection coefficient at specific angles and frequencies and by then linking this result with the bottom reflected eigenrays. Each perturbation of the seabed requires a recalculation of the plane wave reflection coefficient, but not a recalculation of the eigenrays, resulting in a highly efficient method. Range-independent problems are treated as a limiting case of the approach. T...