The focus of this dissertation is on: (i) waveform tomography of stationary and evolving damage in solidsby way of sampling approaches to inverse scattering, and (ii) experimental verification of the generalized linear sampling method (resp. differential evolution indicators) for imaging in known (resp. unknown) backgrounds using scattered field data measured by a 3D Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer, and (iii) construction of Michelson and Photorefractive laser interferometers to facilitate future experimental studies on ultrasonic sensing in highly scattering media.