METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE MEAN SPEED OF SOUND IN A BODY OF WATER

摘要

The precision of the surveying of the bed profiles of a body of water, in other words, the calculation of the depth values for a body of water, is essentially dependent upon the determination of the mean speed of sound. Special surveying techniques are employed, which are very complex and delay the survey process, through interrupting the survey sweeps. Should the tracks of a survey sweep be laid out, such that the surveyed bands overlap on almost parallel tracks, then a correcting factor can be calculated from the slopes of the bed profile, with which an estimated value for the mean speed of sound may be improved. A double iteration is enough to lead to optimal results. The surveying of bodies of water is improved and made more rapid to the extent of an offline evaluation at the end of the survey sweep.