constant an the ran!e scale is chan!

e from B1
mtrs 1 B# mtrs # B( mtrs an so
on.$t is important that the echo soun er ran!e
chan!e
an r e ! u l
a r l % c
h e c & e
.
ERRORS IN ECHO SOUNDER
$t is ver% essential to &no) the errors an limitations of
echo soun er )hileusin! for inten e
purpose. 5R4NS<$SS$ON G$NE ERROR asic )or&in! of
Echo soun er e0plainin! st%lus ' pen arm$t is essential to
ensure that pen arm is reference at 2ero mar& of the
scaleinten e for use. $f this is not correctl% set an
a itional error &no)n astransmission line error coul
occur.S=EED ERROR 5he spee of soun )aves
is assume to be constant at 1, m;s for
calculationpurpose. Ho)ever this spee varies )ith chan!es
in atmospheric pressure temperature an salinit% of
)ater. $n such cases the e"uipment )ill not be ableto
provi e accurate measurement. >enerall% an increase in
temperature salinit%or pressure )ill result in an increase
in spee an the epth in icate )ill be lessthan the
actual epth. 5he value of spee of soun )aves throu!h
)ater as 1, m;s is an internationalstan ar an
provi es an acceptable e!ree of accurac% for most
commercialshippin! re"uirements.Ho)ever if it
becomes necessar% to appl% corrections 4 miralt%
table N=1(3provi es @ne corrections.$n Re sea )here
salinit% an temperature of the sea)ater are hi!her the
epthin icate b% an echo soun er ma% be about , I
less than the actual epth. 5he spee of soun in )ater
epen s upon the ensit% of )ater. 5he spee ofsoun
)aves is lesser in fresh )ater than in sea )ater ue to the
i*erence in ensities. 5his means that soun )aves )ill
ta&e more time to travel in )ater of lesser ensit% 7e!
resh ater8 than in )ater of !reater ensit% 7 e! Salt
)ateror Sea )ater8. 5he ensit% of )ater epen s
upon temperature salinit% an atmosphericpressure.

Hence it is "uite essential to e0ercise precautions )here

atmospheric con itionsare abnormal.
SECOND TRANSMISSION ERROR
hen echo soun er is use in
EFFECT OF SQUAT
$f a vessel is e0periencin! s"uat the recor e epth )ill
still be the epthun er trans ucer irrespective of the
s"uat. 5his can be "uite critical )hens"uat is in e0cess
sa% #. m or more. 5he eep rafte vessels or
an%other vessels )hich are concerne )ith U?C ma%
re"uire epths fore an aft. Hence a itional
trans ucers are @tte to in icate the epths
fromfor)ar to aft.
CHART COMPARISION- INDICATED DEPTH
<ost echo soun ers provi e the epth un er
trans ucer not the actualcharte epth. $n other
)or s the epth in icate is U?C. $n or er
tocompare the epth )ith the chart the ships raft an
an% hei!ht of ti e atthe time of soun in! shoul be ta&en
into
account.S i t i n ! o f t r a n s u c e r i s v e r % i m p o r t a
nt. 4 @0e c o r r e c t i o n m a % b e applicable if the
trans ucer is not situate at the lo)est level of
&eel.Similarl% e0cessive trim or list ma% a*ect the
overall U?C.
DOUBLE ECHOES
4 ouble echo is cause
)hent r a n s m i t t e p u l s e s a f t e r re9ection
from sea bottom area!ain re9ecte from the
)aters u r f a c e o r s h i p 6 s h u l l . 5 h e secon
echo is never as stron!a s t h e @ r s t e c h o . 5 h e
e c h o soun er )ill sho) t)o la%ers
of e c h o o n t h e ispla%. 5he)ea&er
o n e i s u s u a l l % t h e ouble echo. 4
chan!e in
thes e l e c t e epth s c a l e o r sensitiv
it% control can removethis error.

MULTIPLE ECHOES
5his is similar to ouble echo but re9ection bet)een the
seabe an ship6shull ta&es place several number
of times. 5his usuall% occurs in lar!er epths
usuall% !reater than 1 meters. 5his ma% cause several
echoes
to be recor e an a justment of the sensitivit%
control selecte epth orscale coul provi e a better
in ication of true epth.
ECHOES FROM OTHER OBJECTS IN SEA
WATER
Some sea objects li&e sea)ee shoals of @sh or
plan&ton ma% sometime re!isterstron! echoes. $n such
case use alternate means to cross chec& the epth.
Oneof the metho is to ouble chec& the position of ship
an verif% the epth fromnavi!ational chart.
TURBULENCE AND AREATION
hen soun )aves are re9ecte i*usel% ue to air
poc&ets or bubbles it a*ectsthe capabilit% of echo
soun er. Here aeration refers air bubbles )hich pass
closeto the trans ucer )hich )ill re9ect an i*use the
transmitte ener!%. 5he airpoc&ets or bubbles are
cause b% turbulence in rou!h )eather cross currents
ore i e s .
5 u r b u l e n c e i s a l s
o c a u s e ) h e n s h i
p m o v e s a s t e r n o n
e n ! i n e t h u s c
a p a b i l i t % o f e c
h o s o u n e r i s a*ecte
)hile movin! astern.
PYTHAGORAS ERRORS
5his error is cause )hen transmitter is locate a)a%from
the receiver. $n mo ern e"uipment the i*erence in the
len!th throu!h )hich the acousticpulses have to travel is
accounte for.
INTERFERENCE FROM OTHER ECHO
SOUNDERS
$n hi!h traFc ensit% areas it ma%
happent h a t p u l s e s t r a n s m i t t e b
% e c h o s o u n e r o f o n e s h i p a r
e r e c e i v e b % the echo soun er of
another ship. 5here is complete bloc&a!e of the ispla%
unit.4n a justment of !rain control can eliminate this error.
TRANSDUCER LOCATION
5he location of trans ucer is important concern in proper
functionin! of echosoun er. Obviousl% trans ucer
shoul be locate a)a% from areas close tosour
ce of noise. 5he main problem encountere is
stream of air bubbles
uea e r a t i o n . H e n c e t r a n s u c e r s h o u l b e s i t
e i n s u c h a p l a c e ) h e r e e * e c t o f aeration is
minimum on oesn6t e0ist. 5here is al)a%s turbulence
aroun the bo)or stern of the ship. o) )aves
!enerall% create stream of bubbles on aroun "uarter
len!th of ship from for)ar . 5he e0act location of bo)
)aves epen upon shape of bo) spee an raft of
ship. 5he best place to install a trans ucer is )here there i
s least possibilit% of aeration in )ater un er the
ship an minimum interference from en!ine orprop
eller vibration.