Atlas Elektronik Gmbh

Stn Atlas Elektronik Gmbh

Benno Freking

Burckhard Aechter

Tobias Fassbender

Holger Klindt

Tobias Faßbender

A method for measuring a contour of the ground by means of a transmitting arrangement for the directed emission of sound signals and by means of a receiving arrangement including at least two transducers for receiving the sound signals reflected from the contour of the ground. Sound signals are emitted consecutively using a plurality of N soundings from predetermined positions P, P, P, P, . . . , Phaving different aspect angles &#x3c6;in relation to and distances rfrom the contour of the ground. A phase difference, the path differences resulting therefrom, the corresponding angles of incidence, and the coordinates of incidence are ascertained from the receive signals of the transducers for a plurality of sampling times and for the N soundings. Afterwards, the data density is ascertained within a predefined range containing the coordinate of incidence. The range which has the maximum data density is selected, and the coordinate of incidence (x, y, z) corresponding to the range is used for ascertaining the contour of the ground.

Method and device for measuring a contour of the ground

A method for measuring a profile of the ground involves using a transmitting arrangement, which is attached to a watercraft, for the directed emission of sound signals into an underwater area and a receiving arrangement having at least two transducers for receiving sound waves reflected by the profile of the ground.

Method and device for measuring a profile of the ground

A method is provided for measuring the acoustic backscatter property of the floor of a body of water in which an acoustic multibeam echosounder employed on a ship is used to measure the sonic backscattered from a narrow transmission target strip on the sea floor that extends essentially vertically beneath the center of the transmitting antenna, transversely to the travel direction of the ship and which is successively exposed to sonic pulses by the transmitting apparatus. The measured backscatter is converted into sonic backscatter values allocated to receiving strips (115) of the multibeam echosounder. Calibration curves are constructed for all floor elements along the course line of the ship by echosounder measurements during a calibrating operation following a 90.degree. pivot of the echosounder around the vertical axis of the ship. The calibration curves permit an in situ calibration of the sonic backscatter values obtained during the measuring operation, eliminating the influence of the sonic beam angle on the sonic backscatter values so as to result in an unambiguous interpretation of the sonic backscatter values with respect to a definite dependency of local variations in the backscatter measure on changes in the floor sediment.

Method of measuring the acoustic backscatter property of the floor of

For mapping and exploring bodies of water, fan depth finders are used that emit ultrasound pulses and receive-echo pulses in a number of tightly-bundled receiving sectors. Because the predominant number of receiving directions is oriented diagonally downward instead of straight down, these ultrasound pulses propagate on bent paths due to sound refraction. Sound refraction is caused by different sound velocity layers, the precise knowledge of which is necessary for determining an average sound velocity. The method of the present invention does not require a separate measuring probe to measure the sound velocity at different depths; rather, the average sound velocity is determined using a regression method based on the travel time measurements of the ultrasound pulses. In this method, first the floor profile that forms the basis of the measured travel times is determined with an assumed average sound velocity and compared with a floor profile model composed of partial functions modeled in a specific manner. Because a correction value for the average sound velocity can be determined from the partial functions, improved depth values of the floor profile can be determined iteratively with the measured travel times and the corrected sound velocity. A method of this type can advantageously be implemented on research and survey vessels for attaining the high precision required in surveying technology.

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Weyhe-Leeste, Germany

Benno Freking