Apparatus for towing arrays of geophysical devices

摘要

A ship is provided with booms that may be extended outwardly from the ship. Geophysical devices of different genera are towed from the booms, in the water behind the ship. A UHF antenna is located at the outboard tip of each boom. A line joining the two antennas defines a long reference base line for determining the absolute heading of the ship with respect to a meridian and to locate the absolute positions of selected towed geophysical devices with respect to two-dimensional space. The booms may be automatically oriented along a line perpendicular to the ship's track, independently of the ship's heading.