4 ms·
Best solution is to pre-map the ocean to the degree possible (mountains don't tend to move, at least on the timescales we care about...); this wouldn't need to
by rdl 3y ago
Best solution is to pre-map the ocean to the degree possible (mountains don't tend to move, at least on the timescales we care about...); this wouldn't need to be done stealthily (so you could use active sensors), and using surface ships is one option, also drone surface ships and drone underwater vehicles now. I assume there are relatively highly classified high-detail government maps of certain parts of the ocean of particular interest.
We also have highly classified models of the exact shape and mass distribution of the Earth, as this is essential to accurate long-range ballistics (i.e. for ICBMs to hit their targets) -- it affects the gravity experienced over the course, and the precision/accuracy needed is higher than just uniform-density sphere or oblate spheroid. Also of magnetic and other anomalies since that can be used as a baseline when searching for submarines or ships using magnetic sensors, although I think this is less important now.
- michelb 3y agoHow many decades/centuries would it take to map the ocean?
- ipaddr 3y agoIt sounds like the Human Genome Project. Well worth the effort.
- dragonwriter 3y agoIts already been largely done, which is why when subs run into seamounts, you tend to see the leadership team relieved. “Maybe it would help to have a map of the space we’re going to be driving very large, very expensive, strategically important pieces of equipment (that also have crews) through blind” is not, as it turns out, something that never occurred to the Navy.
- tomrod 3y agoOceans cover 361M km^2. So if we built 13,333 drones with a failure rate of 25% and they map at a rate of 50 km^2/day at a higher column depth with active sonar, it would take approximately 2 years
- cagenut 3y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83FQzfH_r2U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83FQzfH_r2U
- tomrod 3y agoThere you go.
- rdl 3y agoAlso don’t need to do the entire ocean; there are specific routes and zones we care about the most, can easily prioritize those.
- tomrod 3y agoIndeed. It can certainly be accomplished.
- toomuchtodo 3y agohttps://seabed2030.org/ https://seabed2030.org/ Project goal is 2030.