Acoustic tomography using widely distributed vertical arrays and matched-field processing

Abstract

This paper suggests a new approach based on single, low-frequency data using air-deployed shots recorded on widely distributed large-aperture vertical arrays. This approach uses fast, cheap, and high S/N data. Results to date with a simulated three-dimensional (3-D) eddy environment show that efficient characterization of the environment plus careful selection of the source/array geometry can lead to highly accurate estimates of the 3-D sound-speed profiles, e.g., maximum errors less than 0.2 m/s.