Charles W. Holland

High-resolution geoacoustic inversion in shallow water: A joint time- and frequency-domain technique

High-resolution geoacoustic data are required for accurate predictions of acoustic propagation and scattering in shallow water. Since direct measurement of geoacoustic data is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive, inversion of acoustic data is a promising alternative. However, the main problem encountered in geoacoustic inversion is the problem of uniqueness, i.e., many diverse geoacoustic models can be made to fit the same data set. A key, and perhaps unique, aspect of this approach is the combination of data analysis in both the space-time and the space-frequency domains. This combination attempts to ameliorate the uniqueness problem by exploiting as much independent data as possible. In order to meet the stringent requirements of high spatial resolution and uniqueness, an entire method has been developed including a new measurement technique, processing/analysis technique, and inversion strategy. These techniques are described and then illustrated with a shallow-water data set. Sound-speed gradients in the upper few meters of the sub-bottom appear to be much higher (one order of magnitude) than generally assumed. And, although often ignored, a large density gradient was observed in the top layer that played an acoustically significant role.

Trans-dimensional geoacoustic inversion

This paper develops a general trans-dimensional Bayesian methodology for geoacoustic inversion. Trans-dimensional inverse problems are a generalization of fixed-dimensional inversion that includes the number and type of model parameters as unknowns in the problem. By extending the inversion state space to multiple subspaces of different dimensions, the posterior probability density quantifies the state of knowledge regarding inversion parameters, including effects due to limited knowledge about appropriate parametrization of the environment and error processes. The inversion is implemented here using a reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm and the seabed is parametrized using a partition model. Unknown data errors are addressed by including a data-error model. Jumps between dimensions are implemented with a birth-death methodology that allows transitions between dimensions by adding or removing interfaces while maintaining detailed balance in the Markov chain. Trans-dimensional inversion results in an inherently parsimonious solution while partition modeling provides a naturally self-regularizing algorithm based on data information content, not on subjective regularization functions. Together, this results in environmental estimates that quantify appropriate seabed structure as supported by the data, allowing sharp discontinuities while approximating smooth transitions where needed. This approach applies generally to geoacoustic inversion and is illustrated here with seabed reflection-coefficient data.

Model selection and Bayesian inference for high-resolution seabed reflection inversion

This paper applies Bayesian inference, including model selection and posterior parameter inference, to inversion of seabed reflection data to resolve sediment structure at a spatial scale below the pulse length of the acoustic source. A practical approach to model selection is used, employing the Bayesian information criterion to decide on the number of sediment layers needed to sufficiently fit the data while satisfying parsimony to avoid overparametrization. Posterior parameter inference is carried out using an efficient Metropolis-Hastings algorithm for high-dimensional models, and results are presented as marginal-probability depth distributions for sound velocity, density, and attenuation. The approach is applied to plane-wave reflection-coefficient inversion of single-bounce data collected on the Malta Plateau, Mediterranean Sea, which indicate complex fine structure close to the water-sediment interface. This fine structure is resolved in the geoacoustic inversion results in terms of four layers within the upper meter of sediments. The inversion results are in good agreement with parameter estimates from a gravity core taken at the experiment site.

Long range acoustic imaging of the continental shelf environment: The Acoustic Clutter Reconnaissance Experiment 2001

An active sonar system is used to image wide areas of the continental shelf environment by long-range echo sounding at low frequency. The bistatic system, deployed in the STRATAFORM area south of Long Island in April-May of 2001, imaged a large number of prominent clutter events over ranges spanning tens of kilometers in near real time. Roughly 3000 waveforms were transmitted into the water column. Wide-area acoustic images of the ocean environment were generated in near real time for each transmission. Between roughly 10 to more than 100 discrete and localized scatterers were registered for each image. This amounts to a total of at least 30000 scattering events that could be confused with those from submerged vehicles over the period of the experiment. Bathymetric relief in the STRATAFORM area is extremely benign, with slopes typically less than 0.5 degrees according to high resolution (30 m sampled) bathymetric data. Most of the clutter occurs in regions where the bathymetry is locally level and does not coregister with seafloor features. No statistically significant difference is found in the frequency of occurrence per unit area of repeatable clutter inside versus outside of areas occupied by subsurface river channels.

Parallel tempering for strongly nonlinear geoacoustic inversion

This paper applies parallel tempering within a Bayesian formulation for strongly nonlinear geoacoustic inverse problems. Bayesian geoacoustic inversion consists of sampling the posterior probability density (PPD) of seabed parameters to estimate integral properties, such as marginal probability distributions, based on ocean acoustic data and prior information. This sampling is usually carried out using the Markov-chain Monte Carlo method of Metropolis-Hastings sampling. However, standard sampling methods can be very inefficient for strongly nonlinear problems involving multi-modal PPDs with the potential to miss important regions of the parameter space and to significantly underestimate parameter uncertainties. Parallel tempering achieves efficient/effective sampling of challenging parameter spaces with the ability to transition freely between multiple PPD modes by running parallel Markov chains at a series of increasing sampling temperatures with probabilistic interchanges between chains. The approach is illustrated for inversion of (simulated) acoustic reverberation data for which the PPD is highly multi-modal. While Metropolis-Hastings sampling gives poor results even with very large sample sizes, parallel tempering provides efficient, convergent sampling of the PPD. Methods to enhance the efficiency of parallel tempering are also considered.

Measurement technique for bottom scattering in shallow water

Sonar performance predictions of reverberation in shallow water rely upon good estimates of the bottom-scattering strength. However, little is understood about bottom scattering in shallow water in the frequency range 400-4000 Hz, particularly its dependency upon frequency and its relationship to the physical properties of the seafloor. In order to address these issues, a new measurement technique has been developed to probe the frequency and angular dependency of bottom-scattering strength. The experimental technique is described which employs either coherent or incoherent sources (lightbulbs). In addition, measurement and modeling results for two diverse shallow water sites are presented. At one site, the scattering appears to arise at or near the water-sediment interface. At the other site, scattering from a 23-m sub-bottom horizon is clearly apparent in the data at and below 1800 Hz. The fact that our measurement technique can directly reveal the presence of sub-bottom scattering is a significant advance in the development of methods to explore the physical mechanisms that control bottom scattering.

Mud volcanoes discovered offshore Sicily

Abstract Numerous active mud volcanoes have been recognized for the first time from seismic reflection and sidescan surveys carried out in 2002 over the Hyblean–Malta Plateau, 10 miles from the southern coast of Sicily (Southern Italy, Mediterranean Sea), along faults adjacent to the Scicli fracture zone. Our geophysical data show clearly the presence of several tens of mud volcanoes at water depths between 70 and 170 m. They have scales of order 10 m in diameter and several meters in height. Gas apparently vents from most of the mud volcanoes and is detected acoustically in the sediments around the cones to distances of about 50 m. This discovery represents a new important step in the study of mud volcanism distribution and highlights the potential of the Sicilian shelf as a hydrocarbon-prone area and a natural source of greenhouse gases.

Remote sensing of sediment density and velocity gradients in the transition layer

The geoacoustic properties of marine sediments, e.g., bulk density and compressional velocity, commonly exhibit large variations in depth near the water-sediment interface. This layer, termed the transition layer, is typically of 0(10(-1)-10(0)) m in thickness. Depth variations within the transition layer may have important implications for understanding and modeling acoustic interaction with the seabed, including propagation and reverberation. In addition, the variations may contain significant clues about the underlying depositional or erosional processes. Characteristics of the transition layer can be measured directly (e.g., coring) or remotely. Remote measurements have the advantage of sampling without disturbing the sediment properties; they also have the potential to be orders of magnitude faster and less expensive than direct methods. It is shown that broadband seabed reflection data can be exploited to remotely obtain the depth dependent density and velocity profiles in the transition layer to high accuracy. A Bayesian inversion approach, which accounts for correlated data errors, provides estimates and uncertainties for the geoacoustic properties. These properties agree with direct (i.e., core) measurements within the uncertainty estimates.

Coupled scattering and reflection measurements in shallow water

The characteristics of shallow-water reverberation are often controlled by scattering from the seabed. While scattering mechanisms are understood in general, the state-of-the-art falls far short of predicting the correct angular and frequency dependence of scattering in a given region. A series of acoustic and supporting geoacoustic measurements were conducted over a large area in the Straits of Sicily in order to study seabed scattering in a complex littoral environment. The hypothesis was that exploiting direct path reflection coefficient measurements, in conjunction with the scattering measurements, could help illuminate the underlying scattering mechanisms. The sediment at the seabed interface was found to be a fine silty clay with nearly uniform properties across the area. Notwithstanding this spatial homogeneity, 1-6-kHz reflection and scattering measurements showed significant spatial variability. The coupled reflection-scattering approach resolved this apparent discrepancy, revealing that the reflection and scattering processes are largely controlled by the sediment properties below, rather than at, the water sediment interface. Measurements at 3600 Hz show that site-to-site variability is in part controlled by the thickness of the silty-clay layer. Layers up to 10 m below the water sediment interface contribute to the scattering at 3600 Hz.

THE BIOT-STOLL SEDIMENT MODEL: AN EXPERIMENTAL ASSESSMENT

A promising approach in the prediction of acoustic wave speeds and attenuations in marine sediments is the use of the Biot theory as implemented by Stoll. The Biot–Stoll physical sediment model is examined here in a field application. Both the geophysical inputs and the geoacoustic outputs were measured at three shallow‐water sites in the Mediterranean Sea. This permitted the investigation of the accuracy of the model for a variety of natural marine sediments including silty clay, sand, and gravel. A difficulty in the use of the Biot–Stoll model is the problem of accurately determining the 13 geophysical inputs since many of the inputs cannot be directly measured. Ten of the input properties are derived by empirical means and the other three properties are determined by measurement. Comparisons are made between the Biot–Stoll model predictions of compressional velocity, compressional attenuation, and shear velocity with in situ and laboratory measurements. The model predictions, on the whole, show excelle...