  Time-resolved scanning Kerr effect microscopy has been used to study
magnetization dynamics in Permalloy thin films excited by transient magnetic
pulses generated by a micrometer-scale transmission line structure. The results
are consistent with magnetostatic spin wave theory and are supported by
micromagnetic simulations. Magnetostatic volume and surface spin waves are
measured for the same specimen using different bias field orientations and can
be accurately calculated by k-space integrations over all excited plane wave
components. A single damping constant of Gilbert form is sufficient to describe
both scenarios. The nonuniform pulsed field plays a key role in the spin wave
dynamics, with its Fourier transform serving as a weighting function for the
participating modes. The intrinsic Gilbert damping parameter $\alpha$ is most
conveniently measured when the spin waves are effectively stationary.
