Extracting modal structure from vertical array ambient noise data in shallow water

Measurements of the acoustic mode structure in shallow water can be inverted to determine ocean environmental acoustic parameters. This modal stucture is embedded in shallow‐water ambient noise [Kuperman and Ingenito, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 1988–1996 (1980)]. Ambient noise measurements (SWellEx 1) using a vertical array spanning the lower duct of a summer sound‐speed environment were used to extract the acoustic modal structure of a coastal water environment off southern California. The experimental results derived from eigenvector processing are consistent with simulations using the measured environmental parameters.