Navigation transponder survey: Design and analysis

Near bottom moored transponders are being used for precision navigation in the deep ocean. To use these navigation systems the relative positions of the transponders must be determined. Typically, a ship surveys the transponders by making slant range measurements from a series of survey points; the positions of the transponders are then estimated using standard nonlinear least square methods. In this paper we use some ideas from the design of nonlinear experiments to find survey patterns that can improve the estimates of the transponder positions. We will analyze the standard three transponder geometry. Our methods show that the accuracy of the least squares estimation procedure is very sensitive to the survey geometry. Careful design of the survey pattern can increase the accuracy of the survey by a factor of five to ten.