SINGLE BEAM

ECHOSOUNDER THEORY
SINGLE BEAM ECHOSOUNDER CALIBRATION

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Installation of SBES Echosounder

The transducer may be fixed under the hull or
mounted on the side or over the bow. The relevant
considerations are that the transducer should be
placed as far as possible away from the vessels
own sources of noise, deep enough to avoid the
surface noise and to stay submerged even in rough
sea.
It is also very important that the transducer is
securely fixed and vertically oriented. It is desirable
for the heave compensator and the positioning
antenna to be located in the same vertical axis as
the transducer.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Installation of SBES Echosounder

The Calibration can be conducted as follows :
Bar Check
**The Echosounder Calibration is a routine task which
consists of adjusting the equipment to ensure the
correct depth measurement**
The Purpose is to set the sound velocity parameter
so as to adjust the mechanical and electrical
components. It may also be possible to correct the
measured depths during post processing with the
application of the sound velocity profile.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Installation of Echosounder
Bar Check
It consists of lowering a bar or plate underneath
the transducer at several depth (every 2 metres) either
recording the depth error to apply afterwards during the
data processing or forcing the echosounder to record
the correct depth from the bar or plate through the
adjustment of the sound velocity parameter. In such
cases the value adopted for calibration is the mean
value of the observation.
**This method should be used down to 20-30 metres.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Bar Check
Calibration

Procedure of doing Bar Check

Procedure of carrying bar check for SBES:
Rope attached to a bar or plate must be marked with marker at
1 meter interval before carrying out bar check calibration.
Select deepest survey area. Do it during calm water.
Lower a bar or plate underneath the transducer at known
depth. The depth of the plate is increased at an interval of 1
meter and the depths are recorded.
Correct the actual depth by forcing the echosounder to give the
correct depth by changing the sound velocity parameters.
This procedure is repeated at different depth of an interval of 1
meter.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Figure 1: Bar Check illustration

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

It is important to stress the following aspects:

a) Prior to the start of the survey it is necessary to
calibrate the echosounder for the actual sound
velocity.
b) A general scale, adequate for the expected
depths should be selected.
c) The frequency channel should be chosen
according to their range capability.
d) It is essential to set the gain and the recording
intensity to produce a legible trace when using
an analogue echosounder.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Figure 2: Recording scales

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Single Beam Echo Sounding

Equipments & Procedures

Prior to the 1970s, most countries employed
mechanical analog depth recorder.
These devices marked the continuous depth profile
on a pre-printed graph paper using a rotating stylus
mechanism.
The speed of rotating mechanical stylus was a
function of water depth and velocity of sound.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Figure 3: Raytheon DE719 analog recording

portable echosounder

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Unfortunately, the rotation velocity of the mechanical
recorders was often unstable and required constant
calibration and alignment.
Few of these mechanical analog recording systems
are still used.
In the 1970s, user began to acquire digital depth
recording systems. These systems marked analog
(profile) depths directly on blank thermal recording
paper; thus eliminating most of the errors in
mechanical recorders.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Digital depth data could also be sent to a data

logging device where it was correlated with
positioning data input.
All modern depth measurement systems can be
configured to output measured depth to data
recording devices, where they can be time tagged
with position and motion sensing data.

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Figure 5: Innerspace Model
455 Depth Sounder

Figure 4: Ross
Laboratories
Smart Sounder

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

Figure 6: Knudsen 320M

Echosounder

Figure 7: Odom Echotrak

DF3200 Mk II

Single Beam Echosounder Calibration

(Single Beam Surveying Method)

Single Beam Surveying Method
Single beam surveys are run either normal to
(i.e., cross sectioned) or longitudinal with the
channel alignment.