The Mathematics of Sonar-Beacon Surveying
HERBERT E. ENGEL, DAVID E. LEV, ARTHUR GELB · NAVIGATION Journal of the Institute of Navigation · 1966
a technique is described in which bottom-moored sonar beacons are surveyed in absolute (e.g., geodetic) position coordinates. The shipboard equipment consists of a sonar transmitter/receiver and a celestially-augmented inertial navigator. Errors in the survey are shown to depend upon errors in the sonar measurements along with the celestial observation error and inertial navigator dynamical errors. Maneuvers are described and navigator reset techniques are discussed which serve to minimize the overall survey error. The effect of repeated measurements is analyzed to indicate the role it plays in error reduction.