Abstract: This article presents a new approach to determine the model order (number of principal components) in the modified Prony method applied to swath acoustic mapping. Determination of the number of principal components is a crucial step in the modified Prony method. In the proposed approach the model order is chosen based on the underlying physical model of the underwater acoustic environment, and utilised signal processing operations. This data-driven approach, attempts to make use of all available information to assess the number of signals arriving at the receiver using pipeline processing in lieu of iterative processing.