The Relationship between Propagation Time and Sound Velocity Profile for Positioning Seafloor Reference Points

Abstract

This paper focuses on the relationship between the propagation time and the integral of the sound velocity profile (SVP) with respect to depth (SVP area for short) for positioning seafloor reference points. We proved a linear relationship between the propagation time and the SVP area and defined its mathematical expression (ST law). We showed in three simulations of possible variations in SVPs (random errors, internal waves, or a combination of both) that this ST law is verified. Using this new law in a simulated experiment, the ranging residuals due to sound velocity change through time are significantly improved. With this method, monitoring the SVP while acquiring travel times to a submerged transponder can significantly reduce the positioning errors of the transponder.

Keywords:

• Acoustic ranging
• ray-tracing algorithm
• seafloor reference points positioning
• SVP

Acknowledgements

The authors also thank the editor and reviewers for their comments and suggestions, which greatly improved the content of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the project of National Nature Science Foundation of China (41874016) and National Key Research Special Foundation of China (2016YFB0501701).