| 摘要 |
Local data about the ocean surface and what is above it are used to improve public radio and TV weather reporting; to improve small-craft ocean traffic safety in view of local precipitation, wind, icebergs, or cloudiness; or to improve performance of wind-sensitive sound-receiving apparatus. (As to weather reporting, one mechanism is in effect a calibration of simultaneous satellite-based data. As to acoustic receivers, the mechanism is orienting receivers to the wind, to minimize wind-noise pickup.) These functions are based on observing, from a distance below the surface, light intensities of many areas of the irregular water surface. From these intensities surface-slope magnitudes and orientations are estimated; analysis of this information enables a quantitative, dynamic representation of the water surface itself. From this model in turn, the conditions enumerated earlier are inferred. The invention operates from a bottom-mounted or -tethered undersea platform or from mobile equipment, and in the latter case particularly can also advantageously provide a visual analogue of above-surface features for use in enhancing operations of that equipment.
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