Sonar History

• Developed after World War I in Britain and the United

States, sonar technology was kept secret until World
War II, when it was used very effectively to counter the
devastating attacks of the German U-Boats.
• During the Cold War, improvements in sonar technology
were critical to tracking the quieter, more sophisticated
Soviet submarines.
• These large submarines were most commonly tracked in
deep ocean areas, and the Navy invested a great deal of
money and resources in understanding the physics of
sound transmission in the open ocean.
 What is sonar?
• Sonar (Sound Navigation And Ranging) is the
generic name of the technology that is used to
locate objects underwater.
• Sonar systems are of two basic types - active
and passive.
• In active sonar, the system emits a pulse of
sound and then the operator listens for echoes.
• In passive sonar, the operator listens to sounds
emitted by the object one is trying to locate.
 Active Sonar
• An active sonar system is an apparatus used for
obtaining information about underwater objects
and events by transmitting sound waves and
observing the return echoes.
• When a sound signal is sent into the water, part
of it will be reflected back if it strikes an object or
"target".
• The distance to the object can be calculated by
measuring the time between when the signal is
sent out and when the reflected sound, or echo,
is received.
 Cont…………..
• For Example, if four seconds elapse between
the emission of the outgoing sound and the
return of its echo, the sound has taken two
seconds to travel to the object and two seconds
to return.
• The average speed of sound in the water is
1,500 meters per second. So if it takes two
seconds for sound to reach the object, we can
assume the object is 2 sec x 1,500 m/sec or
3,000 meters away.
 Cont…………..
• Experienced sonar technicians are often
able to tell the difference between echoes
produced by a submarine, a rock outcrop,
a school of fish, or a whale.
 Passive Sonar Systems

• An apparatus used only for receiving the sounds

generated by underwater objects is called a passive
sonar system, which can be utilized in marine biology for
detecting sounds generated by fish and other aquatic
animals.
• Ships, submarines, marine mammals, and fish all make
noise, and this noise can be used by passive sonar
systems to locate them, in much the same way humans
use their ears to locate someone speaking in a room.
• Passive sonar systems can be arrays of hydrophones
towed behind a ship or submarine, or a fixed system of
hydrophones cabled to shore or attached to a mooring.
 How is sound used to locate
fish?
• Some sonar systems are especially
designed to locate fish.
• Fish finding sonar units send and receive
signals many times per second.
• They concentrate sound into a beam that
is transmitted from a transducer.
• .
• These units include visual displays that
print the echoes.
• The bottom appears as a continuous line
drawn across the display.
• In addition, any objects that are in the
water between the surface and the bottom
may also be displayed.
• Fish finders detect the presence of fish
primarily by detecting the air in their swim
bladders.
• The air conserved in the swim bladder
changes the sound path and reflects
energy back.
• The fish finder detects this reflected
energy and converts it into fish images on
the screen.
• Fish finders operate at high frequencies
of sound, approximately 20-200 kHz (20-
200,000 cycles per second).
• This helps define targets and can even
display two fish as two separate echoes.
 How is sound used to navigate underwater?
• A basic underwater navigation system
uses a hydrophone and an acoustic
tracking beacon. The hydrophone is
attached to a boat, below the water and
works like an antenna.
• The beacon, somewhere below the boat,
transmits a signal that is picked up by the
hydrophone.
• The system calculates the range
(distance) and bearing (horizontal
direction) to the beacon.
• The position of the beacon is determined
relative to the boat. I
• f the exact location of the boat is known,
then the exact location of the beacon can
be calculated.
 How position is calculated
• Underwater positioning is based on the basic
principle:
• Distance = Speed x Time,
• where Speed is the speed of sound in water.
• The system measures the amount of time
between the initial ping (sent from the
transducer) and the return ping (received from
the transponder) and calculates the distance
from that transponder: