ACOUSTIC ESTIMATION OF SEA-FLOOR PARAMETERS - A RADIAL BASIS FUNCTIONS APPROACH

A novel approach to the estimation of seafloor geoacoustic parameters from the measurement of the acoustic field in the water column is intr oduced. The approach is based on the idea of approximating the inverse function that links the geoacoustic parameters with the measured held through a series expansion of radial basis functions. In particular: Gaussian basis functions are used in order to ensure continuity and sm oothness of the approximated inverse. The main advantage of the propos ed approach relies on the fact that the series expansion can be comput ed off-line from simulated data as soon as the experimental configurat ion is known. Data inversion can then be performed in true real time a s soon as the data are acquired. Simulation results are presented in o rder to show the advantages and limitations of the method. Finally, so me inversion results from horizontal towed array data are reported, an d are compared with independent estimates of geoacoustic bottom proper ties. (C) 1996 Acoustical Society of America.