What is Positioning?

According to Bowditch (2002), positioning is defined as The process of determining, at a particular point in time, the precise physical location of the craft, vehicle, person or site. The position determination can vary in quality (degree of certainty as to its accuracy), in relativity (positioning relative to any number of reference frames), andpoint reference (versus a line of position that is a mathematical position referenced along a given line, circle, or sphere). A position can be derived from any number of means, including deduced (also termed dead reckoning), resolved (resolving bearing referenced to known fixed or moving objects also termed geodeticwhen resolved relative to known earth-fixed objects), estimated (also termedSWAG normally claimed by helmsman immediately before striking submerged rocks/objects), and claimed (or announced I claim this island in the name of King George) All positioning is a simple matter of referencing a position relative to some other known position. From the earliest mariners, navigation was performed through line of sight with the coast. As explorers ventured further from sight of land, navigation with reference to the stars became common. Navigation with reference to the North Star for determination of latitude was the earliest version of celestial navigation. Accurate determination of ones latitude could be gained by measuring the angular height of the North Star above the visible horizon. The determination of position upon a known line of latitude formed a rudimentary line of position in that a known position is resolved. In order to gain a higher positional resolution, a second line of position and then a third (and so forth) will be required to intersect the lines of position and resolve for two- and three-dimensional accuracy. This theory works for celestial navigation, GPS positioning, and (of course) acoustic positioning Acoustic Positioning ATechnological Development The need for acoustic positioning became apparent with the loss, then difficulty in locating, the atomic attack submarine USS Thresher, which sank in 8400 feet (2560 meters) of sea water in 1963, as well as a nuclear bomb lost at sea off the coast of Spain in 1966. The US Navy possessed the manned submersible capability to dive to the depth of the wreck site. But precision underwater navigation, through any other means but visual, was impossible with the available technology. In the 1970s, as the search for hydrocarbons migrated into deeper water, the need for repeatable high-accuracy bottom positioning became necessary to place drillstring into the exact position referenced earlier through seismic instrumentation. Since radio frequency waves penetrate just a few wavelengths into water, some other form of precision navigation technology needed development. Thus was born acoustic positioning technology. Today, water conditions in ports and harbors, as well as littoral areas around the world, are such that visual navigation below the surface is either difficult or impossible due to low visibility conditions. The need for underwater acoustic positioning remains high. Basics of Acoustic Positioning The basic underwater speaker is a transducer. This device changes electrical energy into mechanical energy to generate a sound pulse in water. For transducers used in underwater positioning, the typical transducer produces an omnidirectional sound beam capable of being picked up by other transducers in all directions from the signal source. Acoustic positioning is a basic sound propagation and triangulation problem. The technology itself is simple, but the inherent physical errors require understanding and consideration in order to gain an accurate positional resolution. As discussed above, water density is affected by water temperature, pressure, and salinity. This density also directly affects the speed of sound transmission in water. If an accurate round-trip time/speed can be calculated, the distance to a vehicle from a reference point can be ascertained. Therefore, the simple formula RT =D (ratetime= distance) can be used. The time function is easily measurable. The rate question is dependent upon the medium through which the sound travels. The speed of sound (or sonic speed) through various media is listed in Table 4.2. As shown in Table 4.2, pure water and sea water have different sound propagation speeds. For underwater port security tasks, varying degrees of water temperature and salinity conditions will be experienced. The industry-accepted default value for sound speed in water is 4921 feet/second (or 1500 meters per second). If the extreme speed of pure water (4724 ft/s or 1440 m/s) to the median (4921 ft/s or 1500 m/s) is

Introduction Acoustic sound transmission represents the basic techniques for underwater navigation, telemetry, echo sounder, and sonar systems. Common for these systems are the use of underwater pressure wave signals that propagate with a speed of approximately 1500 m/s through the water (Figure 4.1). When the pressure wave hits the sea bottom, or another object, a reflected signal is transmitted back and is detected by the system. The reflected signal contains information about the nature of the reflected object. For a navigation and telemetry system, the communication is based upon an active exchange of acoustic signals between two or more intelligent units. Transmission of underwater signals is influenced by a number of physical limitations, which together limit the range, accuracy, and reliability of a navigation or telemetry system. The factors described in this section include: Transmitted power Transmission loss Transducer configuration Directivity and bandwidth of receiver Environmental noise 81 Requirements of positive signal-to-noise ratio for reliable signal detection Ray bending and reflected signals. The signal-to-noise ratio obtained can be calculated by the sonar equation. Sound Propagation 4.1.2.1 Pressure A basic unit in underwater acoustics is pressure, measured in Pa (micropascal) or bar. The Pa (Pascal) is nowthe international standard. It belongs to theMKSsystem, where 1Pa=106 newton/m2. The bar belongs to the CGS system. 1bar = 105 Pa 0dB re 1bar = 100 dB re 1Pa. The bar is a very small unit so negative decibels will rarely occur, if ever. To convert from bar to Pa, simply add 100 dB. 4.1.2.2 Intensity The sound intensity is defined as the energy passing through a unit area per second. The intensity is related to pressure by: I =p2/c, where I =intensity, p=pressure, =water density, and c=speed of sound in water. Decibel The decibel is widely used in acoustic calculations. It provides a convenient way of handling large numbers and large changes in variables. It also permits quantities to be multiplied together simply by adding their decibel equivalents. The decibel notation of intensity I is: 10 log I/Io, where Io is a reference intensity. The decibel notation of the corresponding pressure is: 10 log (p2/c)/(p2o /c) = 20 log p2/po, where po is the reference pressure corresponding to Io. Normally, po is taken to 1Pa, and Io will then be the intensity of a plane wave with pressure 1Pa When sound is radiated from a source and propagated in the water, it will be spread in different directions. The wave front covers a larger and larger area. For this reason the sound intensity decreases (with increasing distance from the source). When the distance from the source has become much larger than the source dimensions, the source can be regarded as a point source, and the wave front takes the form as a part of an expanding sphere. The area increases with the square of the distance (Figure 4.2) from the source, making the sound intensity decrease with the square of the distance. Let I and Io be the sound intensities in the distances r and ro. Then: Io/I = (r/ro)2. Expressed in decibels, the geometrical spread loss is: TL1 = 10 log Io/I =20 log r/ro.

Usually a reference point is taken 1 meter in front of the source. Setting r o =1 meter we get: TL1 = 20 log r, where r is measured in meters
Absorption loss

When the sound propagates through the water, part of the energy is absorbed by the water and converted to heat. For each meter a certain fraction of the energy is lost: dI = A Idr, where A is a loss factor. This formula is a differential equation with the solution: I (r) = [I (ro)/(e Aro)] eAr. I (ro) is the intensity at the distance ro: TL2 = 10 log I (ro)/I (r) = (r ro), where =10Alog (e). Expressed in decibels, the absorption loss is proportional to the distance traveled. For each meter travelled a certain number of decibels is lost. If ro is the reference distance 1 meter, and if the range r is much larger than 1 meter, the absorption loss will approximately be: TL2 = r, where is named the absorption coefficient. Figure 4.3 shows absorption loss coefficient as a function of frequency. The value of depends strongly on the frequency. It also depends on salinity, temperature, and pressure.
Sound

One-way transmission loss

The total transmission loss, which the sound sufferswhen it travels from the transducer to the target (Figure 4.4), is the sum of the spreading loss and the absorption loss: TL = 20 log r + r, where r is measured in meters and is measured in dB/meter 4.1.3 Transducers 4.1.3.1 Construction A modern transducer is based on piezoelectric ceramic properties, which change physical shape when an electrical current is introduced (Figure 4.5). The change in shape, or vibration, causes a pressure wave, and when the transducer receives a pressure wave, the material transforms the wave into an electrical current. Thus, the transducer may act as both sound source and receiver. 4.1.3.2 Efficiency When the transducer converts electrical energy to sound energy or vice versa, parts of the energy is lost in friction and dielectric loss. Typical transducer efficiency is: 50 percent for a ceramic transducer 25 percent for a nickel transducer. The efficiency is defined as the ratio of power out to power in. 4.1.3.3 Transducer bandwidth Normally a transducer is resonant. This means that they offer maximum sensitivity at the frequency they are designed for. Outside this frequency the sensitivity drops.

Beam pattern The beam pattern shows the transducer sensitivity in different directions. It has a main lobe, normally perpendicular to the transducer face. The direction in which the sensitivity is maximum is called the beam axis. It also has unwanted side lobes and unwanted back radiation. An important parameter is the beam width, defined as the angle between the two 3 dB points. As a rough rule of thumb, the beam width is connected with the size of the transducer by: = /L, where: =beam width in radians =wavelength L=linear dimension of the active transducer area (side for a rectangular area, diameter for a circular). Acoustic Noise 4.1.4.1 Environmental Noise from thrusters and propellers from surface vessels is the dominating environmental noise source. This noise is approximately 40 dB above normal sea noise. Common for all noise sources is that the noise level drops approximately 10 dB per decade with increasing frequency. 4.1.4.2 Noise level calculations The noise level at the system detector is calculated by the following equation: N = (No 10 log (B) DI), where: B =detector bandwidth DI =directivity of transducer. 4.1.4.3 Thruster noise The noise from the thruster is changing depending on the thruster. On pitch-controlled thrusters (fixed RPM), the noise level is actually higher when running idle (0 percent pitch) than running with load. In addition, the impact of the thruster noise is determined by the direction of the (azimuth) thruster.

Running a thruster on low RPM and high pitch normally generates less noise than a thruster on high RPM and low pitch. In general, thrusters with variable RPM/fixed pitch generate less noise than thrusters with fixed RPM/variable pitch Sound paths The velocity of sound is an increasing function of water temperature, pressure, and salinity.Variations of these parameters produce velocity changes, which in turn cause a sound wave to refract or change its direction of propagation. If the velocity gradient increases, the ray curvature is concave upwards (Figure 4.8). If the velocity gradient is negative, the ray curvature is concave downwards. The refraction of the sound paths represents the major limitations of a reliable underwater navigation and telemetry system. The multi-path conditions can vary significantly depending upon ocean depth, type of bottom, and transducertransducer configuration and their respective beam patterns. The multipath transmissions result in a time and frequency smearing of the received signal as illustrated. There are several ways of attacking this problem. The obvious solution is to eliminate the multiple arrivals by combining careful signal detection design with the use of a directional transducer beam. A directional receiving beam discriminates against energy outside of the arrival direction and directional transmit beam project the energy, so that a minimum number of propagation paths are excited.