Geoacoustic inversion using beamformed data from a ship of opportunity has been demonstrated with a bottom mounted array [Koch and Knobles, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 112, 2282 (2002)]. An alternative approach transforms element level data into ‘‘beam space,’’ applies a bearing filter [MacInnes, IEEE J. Ocean. Eng. (submitted)] and transforms back to element level data prior to performing inversions [T. B. Neilsen and C. S. MacInnes (unpublished]. Automation of this filtering approach is facilitated for broadband applications by restricting the inverse transform back to element data corresponding to the degrees of freedom of the array, i.e., the effective number of elements. Examples that demonstrate this filtering technique with simulated data are presented along with comparisons to inversion results using beamformed data. Vertical and horizontal ambiguity surfaces are compared for the two approaches. Examinations of cost functions calculated within a simulated annealing algorithm reveal the efficacy of the approach. Filter performance with real data will be discussed.