echo sounder

n. A device for measuring depth of water by sending pressure waves down from the surface and recording the time until the echo returns from the bottom.

echo sounder

n (General Physics) a navigation and position-finding device that determines depth by measuring the time taken for a pulse of high-frequency sound to reach the sea bed or a submerged object and for the echo to return echo sounding n

Thesaurus

Noun

echo sounder - a measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse in water and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return; "sonar is an acronym for sound navigation ranging"; "asdic is an acronym for antisubmarine detection investigation committee"asdic, sonarmeasuring device, measuring instrument, measuring system - instrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of somethingnavigational instrument - an instrument used for navigatingpinger - a pulse generator used for echo sounding in sonarpulse generator - a generator of single or multiple voltage pulses; usually adjustable for pulse ratepigboat, submarine, U-boat, sub - a submersible warship usually armed with torpedoes

Translations

echo sounder

echo sounder,

an older instrumentation system for indirectly determining ocean floor depth. Echo sounding is based on the principle that water is an excellent medium for the transmission of sound waves and that a sound pulse will bounce off a reflecting layer, returning to its source as an echo. The time interval between the initiation of a sound pulse and echo returned from the bottom can be used to determine the depth of the bottom. An echo-sounding system consists of a transmitter, a receiver that picks up the reflected echo, electronic timing and amplification equipment, and an indicator or graphic recorder. The first patent for an echo-sounding device was granted in 1907. The Fathometer, a registered trademark often loosely applied to all depth-sounding gear, was developed (1914) as a result of research by the Canadian engineer R. A. Fessenden in the application of echo-sounding principles to iceberg detection. Application of echo-sounding principles to submarine detection during World War II resulted in the development of equipment to sound all ocean depths. In 1954 an advanced, highly accurate echo sounder called the precision depth recorder (PDR) was developed. By the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy used the new technique of Sonar Array Survey System (SASS). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recently used an unclassified version of SASS, Sea Beam, to map more detailed representations of the seafloor. Sea Beam employs an array of sound transducers across the hull of the survey vessel which radiate sound in a swathe, thereby allowing a wide region of the seafloor to be mapped. This type of swathe-mapping technology is now the norm for seafloor mapping. Another sonar instrument called SeaMARC uses a torpedo-shaped "fish" to measure the strength of sound signals, rather than the elapsed time of the returning signals, and covers larger areas of the ocean floor.

echo sounder

[′ek·ō ‚sau̇nd·ər] (engineering) sonic depth finder

echo sounder

a navigation and position-finding device that determines depth by measuring the time taken for a pulse of high-frequency sound to reach the sea bed or a submerged object and for the echo to return

echo sounder

echo sounder

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echo sounder,

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echo sounder

Synonyms for echo sounder

noun a measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse in water and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return

Synonyms

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