Marginal probability distributions for parameters representing an effective sound-speed structure of a fine-grained sediment are inferred from a data ensemble maximum entropy method that utilizes a sparse spatially distributed set of received pressure time series resulting from multiple explosive sources in a shallow-water ocean environment possessing significant spatial variability of the seabed. A remote sensing seabed acoustics experiment undertaken in March 2017 off the New England Shelf was designed so that multiple independent analyses could infer the statistical properties of the seabed. The current analysis incorporates the measured horizontal variability from interpretations of a subbottom profiling survey of the experimental area. An idealized range- and azimuth-dependent parameterization of the seabed is derived from identification of horizons within the seabed that define multiple sediment layers. A sparse set of explosive charges were deployed on circular tracks with radii of about 2, 4, and 6.5 km with an acoustic array at the center to correlate a set of random measurements to physical acoustic processes that characterize the seabed. The mean values of a surface sound speed ratio and a linear sound speed gradient for the fine-grained sediment layer derived from 12 data samples processed in the 25–275-Hz band provide an estimate of the effective sound-speed structure in a 130-km$^2$ area. The inferred sediment sound speed values are evaluated by predicting measured time series data not used in the statistical inference, and are also compared to historical measurements. Finally, the low-frequency maximum entropy estimate of the sediment sound speed along with physical measurements derived from piston core measurements are utilized to estimate the sediment grain bulk modulus.

中文翻译：

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从新英格兰大陆架上的稀疏宽带声学测量推断出的细粒沉积物中声速结构的最大熵导出统计

代表细粒沉积物有效声速结构的参数的边际概率分布是从数据集合最大熵方法中推断出来的，该方法利用了由浅水海洋中的多个爆炸源产生的一组稀疏空间分布的接收压力时间序列具有显着海床空间变异性的环境。2017 年 3 月在新英格兰大陆架附近进行的遥感海底声学实验的设计目的是使多个独立分析可以推断出海床的统计特性。当前的分析结合了从对实验区域的海底剖面调查的解释中测得的水平变化。理想化的海床依赖于距离和方位角的参数化源自对海床内定义多个沉积层的层位的识别。一组稀疏的炸药被部署在半径约为 2、4 和 6.5 公里的圆形轨道上，中心有一个声学阵列，以将一组随机测量与表征海床的物理声学过程相关联。从在 25-275-Hz 波段处理的 12 个数据样本得出的细粒沉积层的表面声速比和线性声速梯度的平均值提供了对 130- km$^2$ 区域。推断的沉积物声速值通过预测统计推断中未使用的测量时间序列数据进行评估，并且还与历史测量值进行比较。