Ocean Acoustic Tomography - Reciprocal Tomography

Reciprocal Tomography

"Reciprocal tomography" employs the simultaneous transmissions between two acoustic transceivers. A "transceiver" is an instrument incorporating both an acoustic source and a receiver. The slight differences in travel time between the reciprocally-traveling signals are used to measure ocean currents, since the reciprocal signals travel with and against the current. The average of these reciprocal travel times is the measure of temperature, with the small effects from ocean currents entirely removed. Ocean temperatures are inferred from the sum of reciprocal travel times, while the currents are inferred from the difference of reciprocal travel times. Generally, ocean currents (typically 10 cm/s) have a much smaller effect on travel times than sound speed variations (typically 5 m/s), so "one-way" tomography measures temperature to good approximation.

Read more about this topic:  Ocean Acoustic Tomography

Famous quotes containing the word reciprocal:

    Of course we will continue to work for cheaper electricity in the homes and on the farms of America; for better and cheaper transportation; for low interest rates; for sounder home financing; for better banking; for the regulation of security issues; for reciprocal trade among nations and for the wiping out of slums. And my friends, for all of these we have only begun to fight.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)