Simulative Evaluation of the Underwater Geodetic Network Configuration on Kinematic Positioning Performance

The construction of underwater geodetic networks (UGN) is crucial in marine geodesy. To provide high-precision kinematic positioning for underwater submersibles, an underwater acoustic geodetic network configuration of three seafloor base stations, one subsurface buoy, and one sea surface buoy is proposed. The simulation results show that, for a 3 km-deep sea, based on the proposed UGN, the submersible positioning range and positioning accuracy are primarily affected by the size of the seafloor base station array, while the height of the subsurface buoy has a greater impact on the submersible positioning accuracy than the positioning range. Considering current acoustic ranging technology, the kinematic positioning performance of the UGN is optimal when the seafloor base stations are 9~13 km apart and the subsurface buoy is less than 2.5 km above the seafloor, which can achieve a submersible positioning accuracy of less than 30 m within an underwater space of 25 km × 25 km × 3 km. The proposed cost-effective UGN configuration can provide high-precision submersible kinematic positioning performance for seafloor surveying and ocean precision engineering. The impact of the underwater environment on the acoustic transmission characteristics should be further investigated.