Automated shipboard acoustic forecasting

As a result of evaluations made in conjunction with the Antisubmarine Warfare Environmental Prediction System (ASWEPS) program in the early 1960´s, it became clear that the shipboard environmentalist could not manually prepare the sophisticated acoustic ray diagrams and sonar range computations required for ASW present-day operations. The locally obtained bathythermographs and other oceanographic data were not used to their full potential because of these limitations. To test the effectiveness of at-sea numerical processing and display of oceanographic information an Automated Shipboard Forecasting System (ASFS) was developed in 1968 and placed on the USS WASP (CVS-18) for a two-year test. The unclassified results of the test will be discussed. A review of the computer programs written to convert real-time oceanographic data to sound velocity profiles, acoustic ray path diagrams, propagation loss curves, and other environmental products is included.