1.

Define the Marine Echo-Sounding Equipment

Echo-Sounder is an instrument used in locating the features obtained from
Bathymetric navigation. A bathymetric navigation is defined as the art of
establishing a geographic position on the open sea by use of geological features of
the ocean floor. In this system it consist of two basic components- the transducer
and the recorder. The former used on most ships is located at or near the keel, and
contains both a projector for transmission of a sound signal into the water and a
hydrophone for the reception of the returning echoes. The latter is located where
required, usually in the chart room. The signal transmitted by an echo sounder is
electromechanical in nature. The transmitter which is usually physically located in
the recorder emits a pulsed continuous wave (CW) electromagnetic signal that is
translated into a sound pulse by the transducer.
2. Demonstrate the basic principles of marine echo-sounder equipment
Basic Principles of Marine Echo Sounding Equipment

The echo sounder transmits a sound pulse vertically into the water, and computes
the depth by measuring the time interval from transmission of the sound signal
until the return of its echo from the bottom. Most newer models of echo sounders
allow the operator to display the depths thus measured in feet, fathoms, or meters,
using any one of several scales.
When using echo sounder depths, the navigator must always remember that for most
models the depths recorded are those from the position of the sonar transducer to
the bottom. For actual water depths, the navigator must add the transducer depth of
the vessel to all readings.

Limit of velocity in the water

For the purposes of the depth computation echo sounders are calibrated to use a
standard 4,800 feet per second as the sound velocity. Because the actual sound
velocity is both variable and somewhat faster than this standard, varying with
salinity, temperature, and pressure, some difference almost always exist between
the actual depth and the indicated depth. The actual depth is always greater than
the indicated depth, thus providing a small variable safety factor.
There are other sources of error in the echo sounder depth as well. Since the
transducer pulses propagate outward in the shape of a cone, the first reflective
surface that the cone encounters will produce a reflection interpreted by the
recorder as the depth immediately beneath the ship. In actuality, however the
surface may lie off to one side. Such an echo returned from an edge of the sound
cone is termed a side echo.

Limit of velocity in the water

A third possible sources of error is the rolling and to a lesser extent the
pitching motion of a ship while underway. The position of the transducer on most
ship is fixed, causing the transmission cone to be canted at an angle to the
vertical as the ship proceeds. This effect is a factor that must be taken into
account regardless of the cone width.

Causes of inaccuracies

In addition to the distortion caused by the beam width, there are two other major
sources of error in interpretation of the echo sounder trace. The first is the
multiple bottom return. The effect is most common in relatively shallow water with
a highly reflective bottom such as sand or gravel, and is caused by reverberation
of the sound pulses between the bottom and the water surface. A similar phenomenon
sometimes occurs if the bottom is covered to a depth of several fathoms by a
material of poor reflective qualities, such as soft mud. One return is formed by
the weak reflection from the surface of the mud, while a second return results from
the actual bottom reflection.
A second possible source of error in echo sounder trace interpretation is the deep
scattering layer, a suspension of biological matter such as plankton in a layer
between the surface and the bottom. When a layer of this type is present, it
usually rises toward the surface at night and sinks somewhat by day. Often the
effect is very persistent in a given area, and may lead to numerous reports of
shallow water at locations where the actual depth is very great . A feature called
the American Scout Seamount with depths of 30 to 90 fathoms was reported east of
Newfoundland so often between the years 1948 to 1964 that it was printed on several
contemporary charts of the area. Controlled surveys conducted in the 1960s,
however, found no depths in the area less than 2,350 fathoms. The fictitious
seamount reports are believed to have been caused solely by the deep scattering
layer.

Errors of Echo-Sounder

Velocity of propagation in water:

The velocity taken for the calculation of the is 15oom/sec. The velocity of the
sound wave is changing due to the change of the salinity and temperature of the sea
water. As velocity is varying hence depth recorded will be erroneous.

Stylus speed error:

The speed of the stylus is such that the time taken by the stylus to travel from
top to bottom on chart is same as the time taken by sound wave to travel twice the
range selected. But due to fluctuation in voltage supplied to stylus motor, will
cause error in the recorded depth

Errors of Echo-Sounder

Pythagoras error:
This error is found when two transducer are used one for transmission and one for
reception. This error is calculated using the Pythagoras principle.

Multiple echo:
The echo may be reflected no of times from the bottom of the sea bed, hence
providing the multiple depth marks on paper.

The thermal and density layers:

The density of the water varies with temperature and salinity ,which all tends to
form different layers. The sound wave may be reflected from these layers.

Zero line adjustment:

If the zero is not adjusted properly, it will give error in reading.

CROSS NOISE:
If sensitivity of the amplifier is high, just after zero marking a narrow line
along with the several irregular dots and dashes appear and this is called cross
noise. The main reasons for the cross noise are aeration and picking up the
transmitted pulse. If intensity of cross noise is high, it will completely mask the
shallow water depths. This is controlled by swept gain control circuit.
AERATION:
When the sound wave is reflected from the reflected from the air bubbles, it will
appear as dots, this is known as aeration.

3. Demonstrate the basic operation of marine echo-sounder equipment

The echo sounder transmits the sound pulses downward into the water by a
transducer. The echo reflected from the bed is also received by the echo sounder.
The time interval between the emission of the sound pulse and its return as an echo
is used to estimate the depth of the water. The echo sounder is capable of
recording a continuous profile of the reservoir bed. Typically, the accuracy of the
order of several cm can be obtained. Dual frequency echo sounder provides a higher
accuracy, particularly in the cases where the reservoir bed is soft.

The acoustic pulses of very short duration are transmitted vertically at the rate
of 5 to 600 pulses per minute having a beam width of 12 to 25°. These pulses strike
the seabed and get reflected back towards the receiving transducer as echoes. These
received echoes are converted into electrical signals by the receiving transducer
and after passing through the different stages of the receiver, the current is
supplied to the stylus which bums out the coating of the thin layer of aluminium
powder and produces a black mark on the paper indicating the depth of the seabed.