MAPPING THE OCEANS

MAPPING THE OCEANS

 

Sonar plays the major role in survey ing the ocean floor-taking mea surements on the depth and form of features on the seabed. Sonar is based on the principle of the echo: Sound waves are bounced to the ocean bot tom and back, with distance deter mined by the time this process takes.

In multi beam sonar, the sound source and receiver are built into the

hull of the ship, and the sonar system scans a wide area as the ship moves along. In side scan sonar, the sound originates in a towed source.

SONAR in its simplest form: Sound waves emanate from a ship, bounce off the ocean floor, and are picked up on their return by a receiver on the ship.