Statistical estimation of transmission loss from geoacoustic inversion using a towed array

Geoacoustic inversion estimates environmental parameters from measured acoustic fields (e.g., received on a towed array). The inversion results have some uncertainty due to noise in the data and modeling errors. Based on the posterior probability density of environmental parameters obtained from inversion, a statistical estimation of transmission loss (TL) can be performed and a credibility level envelope or uncertainty band for the TL generated. This uncertainty band accounts for the inherent variability of the environment not usually contained in sonar performance prediction model inputs. The approach follows [Gerstoft et al. IEEE J. Ocean. Eng. 31, 299-307 (2006)] and is demonstrated with data obtained from the MAPEX2000 experiment conducted by the NATO Undersea Research Center using a towed array and a moored source in the Mediterranean Sea in November 2000. Based on the geoacoustic inversion results, the TL and its variability are estimated and compared with the measured TL.     

Range-dependent seabed characterization by inversion of acoustic data from a towed receiver array

The MAPEX2000 experiments were conducted in the Mediterranean Sea in March, 2000 to determine seabed properties using a towed acoustic source and receiver array. Towed systems are advantageous because they are easy to deploy from a ship and the moving platform offers the possibility for estimating spatially variable (range-dependent) seabed properties. In this paper, seabed parameters are determined using a matched-field geoacoustic inversion approach with measured, towed array data. Previous research has successfully applied matched-field geoacoustic inversion techniques to measured acoustic data. However, in nearly all cases the inverted data were collected on moored, vertical receiver arrays. Results here show that seabed parameters can also be extracted by inverting acoustic measurements from a towed array of receivers, and these agree with those inverted using data received simultaneously on a vertical array. These findings imply that a practical technique could be developed to map range-dependent seabed parameters over large areas using a towed acoustic system. An example of such a range-dependent inversion is given using measurements from the MAPEX2000 experiments.     

利用拖船辐射噪声的深海声学参数近场匹配场反演方法

针对深海声学参数难以通过远距离合作声源反演获取的问题,提出了利用拖船低频噪声近场匹配场反演方法。首先,利用聚焦波束形成计算拖曳阵接收拖船噪声的方向性,获得传播路径特征;然后,构建多参数反演模型,由波数积分声传播模型计算拷贝场,采用遗传算法对多频匹配场目标函数进行反演。同时,采用蒙特卡罗方法分析参数后验概率密度。仿真与试验结果表明:深海环境中拖曳阵接收拖船噪声主要来自海底反射路径,利用该特性反演得到海水深度、噪声源距离、阵列深度、沉积层厚度等参数,多频联合反演可以提高沉积层厚度等参数反演准确性。宽带匹配场处理表明,利用反演最优参数模型能准确给出拖船噪声源的空间位置。      

考虑噪声源深度分布的海洋环境噪声模型及地声参数反演

考虑到海洋环境噪声源深度分布不集中,建立了噪声源随深度分布的海洋环境噪声模型,分析了源深度对噪声场垂向特征的影响并从简正波角度予以解释,发现海底声阻抗和声源深度都显著影响由海洋环境噪声获得的等效海底反射损失大掠射角部分,进而将该模型用于地声参数反演.两段实测噪声数据200—525 Hz频段的反演结果表明:基于海洋环境噪声的地声参数反演最优值与声传播的反演结果相近;源平均深度最优值随频率增加有变小的趋势,说明随频率增加环境噪声主要贡献源逐渐由航船转为风浪;当海况大于3级时,400 Hz以上频段噪声源深度平均值很小,与Monahan气泡理论的描述一致.     

Hybrid geoacoustic inversion of broadband Mediterranean Sea data

This paper describes an acoustic experiment (PROSIM'97) carried out to investigate inversion for seabed properties at a site off the west coast of Italy where previous acoustic and geophysical studies have been performed. Acoustic fields were measured at a vertical hydrophone array due to a swept-frequency source towed over weakly range-dependent bathymetry. Based on the known geology, the seabed is modeled as a sediment layer overlying a semi-infinite basement with unknown model parameters consisting of the sediment thickness, sediment and basement sound speeds, source range and depth, water depth at the source and array, and array tilt. A hybrid inversion algorithm is applied to determine the model values that minimize the mismatch with the measured acoustic fields. Multiple data sets are analyzed to examine the consistency of the inversion results. It is found that the low sound speed of the sediment layer, together with a large uncertainty in bathymetry, leads to strong correlations between the water depths and sediment thickness. This precludes reliable estimation of these parameters individually; however, the total depth to the basement can be estimated reliably. In addition, the basement speed and geometric parameters are estimated consistently, and all parameters compare favorably with the geophysical ground-truth information and with previous inversion results.     

The effects of ignored seabed variability in geoacoustic inversion

Geoacoustic inversion using a matched-field inversion algorithm is a well-established technique for estimating the geoacoustic parameters of the seabed. This paper demonstrates how parameter estimation can be affected by unknown or wishfully ignored random range dependence of the true environment when the inversion model is--for practicality--assumed to be range independent. Simulations with controlled statistics were carried out using a simple shallow water model: an isospeed water column over a homogeneous elastic halfspace. The inversion parameters included water depth, compressional speed in the seabed, seabed density, and compressional wave attenuation. On average the environment is range independent: some parameters are constant while other parameters are random with range-independent means and variances. A Parabolic Equation underwater acoustic propagation model is used to calculate the simulated data fields for the range-dependent environment as well as to calculate the model fields for the range-independent inversion model. The Adaptive Simplex Simulated Annealing inversion algorithm is used to estimate the best-fit solution. It is found that ignoring the variability of even a single geoacoustic parameter leads to significant and correlated uncertainty (bias and variance) in the estimation of all inverted parameters. Results are presented for range variation of compressional sound speed and water depth.     

基于拖曳倾斜线列阵的海底反射损失提取方法

在浅海环境中,海底声学参数对水下声场的精确预报十分重要.现有的海底声学参数反演方法大多数是采用固定垂直阵进行的,其缺点是不能实施大面积、高分辨的走航式反演.在已提出的垂直阵海底反射损失反演方法的基础上,研究了基于三种线列阵阵形的海底反射损失提取方法及其特点,提出了基于拖曳倾斜线列阵与三个声源组合的走航式海底参数快速获取方法,并对该方法进行了误差分析.研究结果表明：覆盖同样的掠射角范围,垂直线列阵需与多个距离的声源组合,拖曳水平线列阵只需一个声源组合但需要采用较大的物理孔径,拖曳倾斜线列阵综合了垂直阵和水平 关键词： 水下声场预报 海底声学参数 海底反射损失 拖曳倾斜线列阵     

Multi-step geoacoustic inversion with a towed line array

Geoacoustic inversion is important for acoustic field predictions and matched field localizations in shallow water.Combing the Matched-field inversion(MFI) and the Reflectionloss inversion,a multi-step Bayesian inversion for geoacoustic parameters was presented.This method applied the posterior probability density(PPD) or inversion results from one inversion as prior information for subsequent inversion.First,the sensitive parameters were determined by the MFI.Second,the insensitive parameters were determined by the Reflection-loss inversion based on the PPD and inversion results from the MFI.The PPD results indicated that the multi-step inversion method was performed better than direct matched-field inversion,and the inversion results of some parameters were improved significantly.To demonstrate the advantages of the multi-step inversion method on the sound field prediction,the statistical properties of transmission loss based on the posterior probability were introduced.The transmission loss distribution showed that the predicted acoustic fields based on the multi-step inversion method had smaller errors.     

Uncertainty estimation in simultaneous Bayesian tracking and environmental inversion

This paper develops a Bayesian approach for two related inverse problems: tracking an acoustic source when ocean environmental parameters are unknown, and determining environmental parameters using acoustic data from an unknown (moving) source. The formulation considers source and environmental parameters as unknown random variables constrained by noisy acoustic data and by prior information on parameter values (e.g., physical limits for environmental properties) and on inter-parameter relationships (limits on radial and vertical source speed). The goal is not simply to estimate parameter values, but to rigorously determine parameter uncertainty distributions, thereby quantifying the information content of the data/prior to resolve source and environmental parameters. Results are presented as marginal posterior probability densities (PPDs) for environmental parameters and joint marginal PPDs for source ranges and depths. Given the numerically intensive inversion, an efficient Markov-chain Monte Carlo importance-sampling approach is developed which combines Metropolis and heat-bath Gibbs' sampling, employs efficient proposal distributions based on a linearized PPD approximation, and considers nonunity sampling temperatures to ensure a complete parameter search. The approach is illustrated with two simulated examples representing tracking a quiet submerged source and geoacoustic inversion using noise from an unknown ship of opportunity. In both cases, source, seabed, and water-column parameters are unknown.     

利用拖船自噪声进行浅海环境参数贝叶斯反演

研究了以拖船自噪声为参考声源的浅海环境参数反演问题,并针对反演结果不确定性快速量化评估问题,提出了一种基于自适应重要性抽样的贝叶斯反演新方法。反演利用了拖船自噪声低频线谱成分,并采用混合高斯推荐函数自适应推荐声场模型样本,使得样本集中于参数高概率密度区域,实现后验概率密度快速收敛计算。仿真试验结果表明:拖船自噪声反演能够准确估计水深、沉积层及阵列参数等。所提自适应重要性抽样贝叶斯反演方法的计算效率优于快速吉布斯抽样方法。利用试验数据处理验证,反演得到试验海域声学环境参数,计算传播损失与各阵元接收线谱强度变化吻合,说明反演最优环境模型能准确表征声场传播特征。      

The impact of water column variability on horizontal wave number estimation and mode based geoacoustic inversion results

The influence of water column variability on low-frequency, shallow water geoacoustic inversion results is considered. The data are estimates of modal eigenvalues obtained from measurements of a point source acoustic field using a horizontal aperture array in the water column. The inversion algorithm is based on perturbations to a background waveguide model with seabed properties consistent with the measured eigenvalues. Water column properties in the background model are assumed to be known, as would be obtained from conductivity, temperature, and depth measurements. The scope of this work in addressing the impact of water column variability on inversion is twofold. Range-dependent propagation effects as they pertain to eigenvalue estimation are first considered. It is shown that mode coupling is important even for weak internal waves and can enhance modal eigenvalue estimates. Second, the effect of the choice of background sound speed profile in the water column is considered for its impact on the estimated bottom acoustic properties. It is shown that a range-averaged sound velocity profile yields the best geoacoustic parameter estimates.     

Complex reflection phase gradient as an inversion parameter for the prediction of shallow water propagation and the characterization of sea-bottoms

In this paper a quantity is proposed, referred to as the complex reflection phase gradient, whose use in a matched field inversion procedure allows for the rapid extraction of first order geo-acoustic information about the sea-bottom. It is based on the observation that at low grazing angles the reflection phase and bottom loss for a wide range of sea-bottom types commonly exhibits an approximate linear relationship to the vertical component of the acoustic wave number at the seabed. The real part of this quantity specifies the rate at which the reflection phase varies with vertical acoustic wave number while the imaginary part quantifies the rate of change of bottom loss. Despite being defined with just two real parameters it is shown that it provides an accurate prediction of the sound field for a wide range of bottom types. In addition, its measurement permits an estimate to be made for the input impedance to the seabed in the zero grazing angle limit and, in the case of a homogeneous elastic half-space of known density, the compressional and shear wave speed. The main advantage of the two-parameter seabottom representation is that each parameter is readily inverted from comparatively few acoustic pressure measurements. The usefulness of the technique is illustrated by the results from computer simulated acoustic pressure measurements made at just eleven sensors in a simple shallow water channel, and results from a 10 cm deep laboratory channel at frequencies between 10 kHz and 75 kHz.     

利用传播损失反演海底单参数

根据地声反演复杂性随着待反演参数的个数减少不断降低的原理,提出一种利用传播损失反演海底单个参数的方法。通过对海底声阻抗的推导,利用声速、密度和衰减系数拟合出海底反射损失对掠射角的斜率F。基于简正波理论推导了用F描述声场的公式,并据此设计出对传播损失数据进行最小二乘法处理的反演方法。得益于将待反演参数减少至一个,该方法只需单个水听器,避免了复杂测量及多维寻优。对东海实验数据进行了实际反演,并介绍了利用反演结果F进行传播损失预报和海底性质估计的步骤。所获结果与多参数混合反演方法及实测真值进行比较,其一致性验证了方法的有效性。      

浅海环境噪声垂直指向性探测海底参数

浅海环境噪声垂直指向性和海底地声参数密切相关,可以利用它来反演海底参数。本文在水平分层介质噪声场模型下,讨论了海底参数对噪声垂直指向性的敏感度,并假设半无限大液态海底,采用效率较高的自适应单纯形模拟退火算法全局寻优,根据中国某海区实测噪声数据,估计了海底声速、密度及衰减,分析了反演结果的不确定性。鉴于声速和密度在不同频率的反演结果不够一致,文中提出多频海底参数联合反演方法,提高了反演海底声学参数的精度。     

Geoacoustic inversion for bottom parameters in a thermocline environment in the northern area of the South China Sea

Bottom acoustic parameters have important influence on the application of underwater acoustic propagation and source location.The acoustic parameters of the seabed in the northern of the South China Sea(SCS) were inversed using the experiment data from an acoustic experiment in 2015.Based on the comprehensive analysis of the influence of the sound speed fluctuation and the geoacoustic model on seabed inversion,the multi-parameter hybrid acoustic inversion scheme is improved by selecting the equivalent mean sound speed profile(SSP) and half-infinite liquid bottom model to save the inversion dimensions in the matched field processing(MFP) inversion.The inverted bottom sound speed and density are in good agreement with the core sampling measurements.The nonlinear empirical relationship of the attenuation coefficient with frequency is given out.The inversion results are meaningful to the sound propagation research and application in the northern area of the SCS.     

Subbottom profiling using a ship towed line array and geoacoustic inversion

Bottom profiling traditionally uses broadband signals received on a line array at long ranges to estimate the bottom layer structure and thickness. In this paper, a subbottom profiling method is developed and applied to a ship-towed line array using the same ship towed source to estimate the subbottom layer structure and thickness. A ship towed line-array system can be used to estimate bottom properties using geoacoustic inversion and can cover a wide area in a short time. It needs some prior information about the subbottom structure and layer thickness, without which the solution can be ambiguous and even erratic when resolving parameters over a wide area. It is shown that the required subbottom information can be obtained from the time-angle relation by beamforming the same acoustic signal data used for geoacoustic inversion. The time-angle analysis is used to expose the prevalent physics intrinsic to geoacoustic inversion. One finds that the tau-p relation of the bottom and the bottom reflection coefficients, sampled at discrete angles associated with bottom and multiple surface-bottom returns, are often adequate, for many practical applications, to uniquely determine the geoacoustic bottom at low (< or =1 kHz) frequencies.     

一种海洋环境噪声分步反演地声参数方法

分析不同海底参数对环境噪声垂向空间特性的敏感度,根据海底密度对环境噪声垂直指向性的小掠射角部分不敏感,而对等效海底损失的大掠射角部分相对敏感的特点,提出了一种海洋环境噪声分步反演地声参数方法:先用环境噪声垂直指向性小掠射角部分反演海底声速、衰减;之后利用大掠射角部分来反演海底密度。仿真算例和海上实验数据处理结果验证了该方法的有效性。结果表明:分步反演加强了匹配物理量对海底参数敏感部分的关注,在反演结果精度(海底密度)以及反演效率上都有所改善,具有一定可行性。      

一种地声参数的联合反演方法

根据地声参数对不同声场物理量影响不同,提出了一种利用简正波频散特征结合声传播损失反演地声参数的联合反演方法。首先,考虑到简正波的频散特性(群速度)对海底的密度和声速较为敏感,而对海底吸收系数不敏感,利用自适应时频分析方法,获得不同频率不同号数简正波的到达时间差,以此作为代价函数,采用全局优化算法,反演出海底密度和海底声速的分层结构,并用概率统计的方法评价反演结果的有效性。反演出海底密度和声速后,利用实验船辐射噪声得到随距离连续的声传播损失来反演出海底吸收系数。最后,把反演的参数很好的用于声源匹配定位验证了反演结果的有效性。      

Maximum entropy approach to statistical inference for an ocean acoustic waveguide

A conditional probability distribution suitable for estimating the statistical properties of ocean seabed parameter values inferred from acoustic measurements is derived from a maximum entropy principle. The specification of the expectation value for an error function constrains the maximization of an entropy functional. This constraint determines the sensitivity factor (β) to the error function of the resulting probability distribution, which is a canonical form that provides a conservative estimate of the uncertainty of the parameter values. From the conditional distribution, marginal distributions for individual parameters can be determined from integration over the other parameters. The approach is an alternative to obtaining the posterior probability distribution without an intermediary determination of the likelihood function followed by an application of Bayes' rule. In this paper the expectation value that specifies the constraint is determined from the values of the error function for the model solutions obtained from a sparse number of data samples. The method is applied to ocean acoustic measurements taken on the New Jersey continental shelf. The marginal probability distribution for the values of the sound speed ratio at the surface of the seabed and the source levels of a towed source are examined for different geoacoustic model representations.     

利用等离子体声源测量浅海低频段水声信道特性

浅海水声信道的结构特征及其变化特性是浅海环境水下远程探测和通讯应用的基础.为了有效测量低频水声信道特性,我们在实验中采用了拖曳等离子体声源和垂直阵接收系统。通过实验测量与信道模型仿真输出的比较,对等离子体声源特性,特别是脉冲波形、空间指向性和电声转换效率,以及在信道中的传播特性等进行测量分析。结果表明:实验测量与信道模型仿真符合良好,实验中采用的等离子体声源的发射源级和拖曳姿态稳定,波形一致性好,可以满足走航式连续水下信道测量要求。