Echo sounders 

For hydrographic applications

Echo sounder: a sonic device. There are also non-sonic devices i.e. laser and
magnetic devices.
Sound velocity in water varies with the medium’s elasticity and density which
are dependent upon salinity, temperature and pressure.

Salinity: This is a measure of the quantity of dissolved salts and other minerals.
The average salinity of sea water is around 35%. The rate of variation of sound
velocity is approximately 1.3 m/s for a 1% alteration in salinity.

Temperature: The temperature at the sea surface varies with the geographic
position on the earth, the season of the year and the time of the day. Depth
measurement is quite sensitive to variations of the sound velocity profile. A
variation of 1degree Celsius translates to approx. 4.5 m/s in sound velocity.

Pressure: The pressure also impacts significantly on the sound velocity

variation. Pressure is a function of depth and the rate of change of sound
velocity is approx. 1.6 m/s for every alteration of 10 mb (atmosphere) i.e.
approx. 100 m of water depth. The pressure has a major influence on the

sound velocity in deep waters.

Density: Water density depends on the previous parameters i.e. temperature,

pressure and salinity. 50% of the ocean waters have a density of between
1027.7 and 1027.9 kg/m3.The largest influence on density is compressibility
with depth. Water at a density of 1028 kg/m3 at the surface would have a
density of 1051 kg/m3 at a depth of 5,000 m.
Sea water sound propagation:

Sound propagation in sea water focuses on attenuation, reflection and

refraction.

Attenuation: This is a loss in energy of a propagating wave due to absorption,

spherical spreading and scattering by particles in the water column. The
absorption is the result of dissociation and association of some molecules in
the water column. (MgSo4) Magnesium sulphate is a major source of
absorption in salt water. The rate if absorption is dependent on the physical
and chemical properties of sea water and the acoustic frequency being
transmitted.

Above a frequency of 100 Khz the absorption coefficient increases with the
increase in temperature, thus it can be expected that sonar range will vary
with water temperature.

Refraction and Reflection: Refraction is the process in which the direction of

propagation of the acoustic wave is altered to a change in sound velocity
within the propagating medium or as the energy passes through an interface’
representing a sound velocity discontinuity between two media. For normal
incidence no refraction occurs.

Acoustic parameters: The characters of an Echo sounder are determined by

the transducers, namely the directivity, beam width, beam steering and side
lobes level.

Frequency: The Echo sounder’s acoustic frequency is the parameter which

determines the range and sound penetration of sediments. The attenuation of
the acoustic signal in the water is proportional to the frequency. The higher the
frequency is the higher the attenuation will be and consequently the lower the
range and the penetration into the sea floor.

The beam width is dependent on the acoustic wavelength and on the size of
the transducer. For the same beam width, a lower frequency will require a
larger transducer.

The frequencies of bathymetric Echo sounders are :

Water shallower than 100 m frequencies higher than 200 khz.

Water shallower than 1,500 m frequencies from 50 – 200 Khz.

Water deeper than 1,500 m frequencies from 12 – 50 Khz.

Band width: To optimize the transmission power, the transducer should

transmit close to the resonance frequency and therefore have a small
bandwidth. Small bandwidth = a higher quality factor value. During reception it
is necessary to have good echo discrimination from any other signal.

The pulse length determines the energy transmitted in to the water. For the
same power the longer the pulse length the higher the energy put into the
water will be and thus the greater the range that can be achieved with the
Echo sounder.
a) COMPONENTS

Basically an echo sounder has following components

A. Recorder - for measuring and indicating depth.

B. Pulse generator – to produce electrical oscillations for the transmitting transducer.

C. Transducer – to generate the sound vibrations.

D. Transducer - to receive the reflected sound vibration.

Amplifier – to amplify the weak electrical oscillations that has been generated by the
receiving transducer on reception of the reflected sound vibration (echo).

An echo-sounder sends an acoustic pulse directly downwards to the seabed and records the
returned echo. The sound pulse is generated by a transducer that emits an acoustic pulse and
then “listens” for the return signal. The time for the signal to return is recorded and converted
to a depth measurement by calculating the speed of sound in water. As the speed of sound in
water is around 1,500 metres per second, the time interval, measured in milliseconds,
between the pulse being transmitted and the echo being received, allows bottom depth and
targets to be measured.
The value of underwater acoustics to the fishing industry has led to the development of other
acoustic instruments that operate in a similar fashion to echo-sounders but, because their
function is slightly different from the initial model of the echo-sounder, have been given
different terms.
WATERPROOF SEARCHLIGHT

One useful small sonar is similar in appearance to a waterproof flashlight. The head is
pointed into the water, a button is pressed, and the device displays the distance to the target.
Another variant is a "fishfinder" that shows a small display with shoals of fish. Some civilian
sonars (which are not designed for stealth) approach active military sonars in capability, with
quite exotic three-dimensional displays of the area near the boat.
When active sonar is used to measure the distance from the transducer to the bottom, it is
known as echo sounding. Similar methods may be used looking upward for wave
measurement.
How Echo Sounder Works

Digital Echo Sounder: Application – ROV, AUV, UUV. Offshore Oil & Gas, Surveying,
Underwater Archaeology, Scientific research.
Features: Programmable, high performance, low power, simple set-up and installation,
Digital telemetry, 1 to 100 m operation, compact size, communication format available to
user, even up to depths of 3000 m
The most common External Controls found on Echo Sounders.

 Illumination Control.
The illumination control provides continuous regulation of the illumination of the echogram
and the front panel controls. The illumination lamps will extinguish when the recorder is
switched off.

 Receiver Gain Control.

This control regulates the amplification of the received signals.
Correct setting: Turn the knob clockwise until a stable depth indication is obtained on the
digital depth indicator. If the setting is too low the depth-indicator will start blinking. Too
high setting may result in false depth indication from air bubbles, plankton layers, side lobes,
etc. By turning the control fully anti-clockwise the echo-sounder is switched off.

 Range Selector.
This control selects the basic ranges according to the table given under technical
specifications. In position 0 the recorder is switched off and the depth will be shown only on
the digital depth indicator. The depth warning and any remote depth indicators will be
operational.

 Maintenance

 Cleaning
Keep the cabinet clean and dry. If desired, the cabinet may be polished with a good car wax.
Take care not to wax the acryl window and front plate. This should be cleaned with ordinary
soap and wet cloth.

The transducer normally needs little attention. However, the radiating face should be cleaned
when docking. Use synthetic soap. Marine growth may be removed with a piece of wood,
whereupon the radiating face is carefully cleaned with fine-grade sand paper or 

Performance factors
The detection, classification and localisation performance of a sonar depends on //the
environment and the receiving equipment, as well as the transmitting equipment in an active
sonar or the target radiated noise in a passive sonar.
Sound propagation
Sonar operation is affected by variations in sound speed, particularly in the vertical plane.
Sound travels more slowly in fresh water than in sea water, though the difference is small.
The speed is determined by the water's bulk modulus and mass density. The bulk modulus is
affected by temperature, dissolved impurities (usually salinity), and pressure. The density
effect is small. The speed of sound in water is 1.5 km/sec (average).
This  approximation is reasonably accurate for normal temperatures, concentrations of
salinity and the range of most ocean depths. Ocean temperature varies with depth, but at
between 30 and 100 meters there is often a marked change, called the thermocline, dividing
the warmer surface water from the cold, still waters that make up the rest of the ocean. This
can frustrate sonar, because a sound originating on one side of the thermocline tends to be
bent, or refracted. Water pressure also affects sound propagation: higher pressure increases
the sound speed, which causes the sound waves to refract away from the area of higher sound
speed. The mathematical model of refraction is called Snell's law.
If the sound source is deep and the conditions are right, propagation may occur in the 'deep
sound channel'. This provides extremely low propagation loss to a receiver in the channel.
This is because of sound trapping in the channel with no losses at the boundaries. Similar
propagation can occur in the 'surface duct' under suitable conditions. However in this case
there are reflection losses at the surface.
In shallow water propagation is generally by repeated reflection at the surface and bottom,
where considerable losses can occur.
Sound propagation is affected by absorption in the water itself as well as at the surface and
bottom. This absorption depends upon frequency, with several different mechanisms in sea
water. Long-range sonar uses low frequencies to minimise absorption effects.( Attenuation)
The sea contains many sources of noise that interfere with the desired target echo or
signature. The main noise sources are waves and shipping. The motion of the receiver
through the water can also cause speed-dependent low frequency noise.
Scattering
When active sonar is used, scattering occurs from small objects in the sea as well as from the
bottom and surface. This can be a major source of interference. This acoustic scattering is
analogous to the scattering of the light from a car's headlights in fog: a high-intensity pencil
beam will penetrate the fog to some extent, but broader-beam headlights emit much light in
unwanted directions, much of which is scattered back to the observer, overwhelming that
reflected from the target ("white-out"). For analogous reasons active sonar needs to transmit
in a narrow beam to minimise scattering.
Target characteristics
The sound reflection characteristics of the target of an active sonar, such as a submarine, are
known as its target strength. A complication is that echoes are also obtained from other
objects in the sea such as whales, wakes, schools of fish and rocks.

Countermeasures
Active (powered) countermeasures may be launched by a submarine under attack to raise the
noise level, provide a large false target, and obscure the signature of the submarine itself.

Available echo sounder types

 Wide Swath Bathymetry Systems
 Echo sounder sweep systems
 Fish finding and fishery research echo sounders
 Multibeam Echo Sounders
 Navigational Echo Sounders.  IMO PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
 Single Beam Echo Sounders
 Single beam scanning echo sounder
  Sub bottom profilers
 
Navigation echo sounder

IMO navigation echo sounder equipped with a large, colour LDC, with day / night screen.
The large display provides you with instant access to all vital information. Graphic echo
sounder data consisting of the immediate depth and a record of soundings are continuously
displayed. Interfaces for remote equipment is available including ports for (Input/output) and
PC parallel printer.
Navigation data regarding data and time is stored in the internal memory providing a history
of the last 24-hours. IMO Performance Standards for Echo Sounding Equipment (Resolution
A.224 (VII)) are met or exceeded.

The applied phase measuring bathymetric sonar technology provides data coverage of up to
12 times the water depth, giving unsurpassed survey efficiency in shallow water
environments. The same area can be mapped 30% to 40% faster using GeoSwath Plus than
with a typical beam forming echo sounder. The GeoSwath Plus comes as a turnkey solution,
including the deck unit, compact sonar head and a full software package for data acquisition,
processing, system calibrations and production of the final bathymetry grids and side scan
mosaics. Alternatively the user can operate with any major third party software. The side scan
data can be processed in GeoTexture software to give bottom classification and texture
analysis.

Echo sounder sweep systems

For canals, rivers and shallow water

The hydrographic echo sounder sweep system is specifically designed for use in canals, rivers
and other shallow bodies of water. Its precise depth and bottom detection capabilities provide
detailed bottom imagery.
The system can also control two different frequencies simultaneously, e.g. 15 kHz and 200
kHz. By using two different frequencies, the system will provide both accurate bottom depth
and penetration information depend of sediment concentration.
Both depth and bottom profile
This compact, multichannel echo sounder can simultaneously monitor both depth and bottom
profile.

Your benefits in using a good ECHO SOUNDER

 A wide range of available frequencies
 Transducers are sidelooking transducers
 Sound velocity compensation
 Side-looking
  Sub-bottom expansion
 Easy integration of third party software
 Complete operation station with software and interface possibilities

Wide swath bathymetry -

Geoacoustics GeoSwath Plus. This offers very efficient

simultaneous swath bathymetry and side scan seabed
mapping with accuracies that have been shown to exceed
the IHO Standards for Hydrographic Surveys.

The applied phase measuring bathymetric sonar technology

provides data coverage of up to 12 times the water depth,
giving unsurpassed survey efficiency in shallow water environments. The same area can be
mapped 30% to 40% faster using GeoSwath Plus than with a typical beamforming
echosounder. The GeoSwath Plus comes as a turnkey solution, including the deck unit,
compact sonar head and a full software package for data acquisition, processing, system
calibrations and production of the final bathymetry grids and side scan mosaics. Alternatively
the user can operate with any major third party software. The side scan data can be processed
in GeoTexture software to give bottom classification and texture analysis.

Key features

 Ultra high resolution swath bathymetry

 IHO SP-44, special order
 Co-registered geo-referenced side scan
 Frequency versions: 125, 250, 500 kHz
 Up to 12 times water depth coverage
 240º view angle
 Dual transducer set-up with versatile mounting options
 Full software solution included: data acquisition, processing, presentation
 Interfaces to all customary peripheral sensors
 Interfaces to all customary software packages