An acoustic navigation technique

An acostic navigation technique for the accurate positioning of surface ships, submerged devices and undersea transponders, is described. An iterative solution of an over-determinant set of equations is employed to fully utilize all available data for precise position determination including the depth coordinant of a submerged device. This technique greatly reduces the amount of ship time required to survey the transponder array. A mathmatical development of this technique is presented including a discussion of the proper mean sound velocity. Computer simulated operation used for technique evaluation and for parameter optimization is discussed along with limitations and restaints. This technique has been implemented using off-the-shelf acoustic navigation equipment and a minicomputer. At sea operation and results will be given at the oral presentation.