Inversion of shallow water ocean acoustic data using a complex plane‐wave reflection coefficient approach

A previously reported method of inversion in range‐dependent environments using a complex plane‐wave approach [Stotts et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 2334 (2001)] has been applied to data analysis. The method separates the propagation in the water column from the interaction with the seabed by first calculating and then storing the eigenray characteristics associated with the assumed known waveguide geometry. The inversion is then performed by calculating the plane‐wave reflection coefficients at the predetermined angles and constructing the modeled field of the entire propagation for each perturbation of the seabed parameters. Results of applications of this model to data taken off the coast of Florida during the spring of 2001, will be presented. Consistent inversion results obtained from other models along with an examination of received time series, as well as sound speed profiles collected over the region, will also be discussed in the context of range‐dependent inversion analysis. Comparisons of th...