Echoes used to map caves

[self-deleted_user]

From: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028156.000 for the full text.

To infer a cave's geometry, the device listens for subtle changes in the way sound reverberates through the chamber's differently sized nooks and crannies. "Every time there is a sudden change in cross-sectional area, it changes the way sound is reflected," Bowen says.

[rlboyce]

Thanks for sharing!

[boogercaver71]

Wow, a few gunshots, and 400+ miles of Mammoth cave could be mapped in a few seconds. Seriously, I guess it might be used in large rooms(except on Federal land where it probably would not be allowed)

[rlboyce]

I'm sure the use of a subwoofer as an alternative would be highly recommended in the confines of a cave. With a little doing, you could probably set it up to give you precise intervals of sound. In addition, there are plenty of other portable devices that make a very loud noise that you could use instead. I agree that the use of a gun is just silly, but the concept of what they're doing is somewhat interesting. I'd really like to get my hands on that software to try it out for myself, or find a website that goes into more detail about the whole thing. I don't know exactly how exact or helpful this method is, but I can imagine a few places in some local caves where it would possibly be worth trying.

[self-deleted_user]

I have done some searching to see if there is a scholarly article so far nada (did a quick google scholar check and institution check to see if their pages were updated with a recent publication relevant) but it seems Acentech / industry is involved so likely there will be no publication I'd think...at least my experience if tech is developed via industry, it's not published. Or if it is, it would be in patents, which I didn't find anything using those names mentioned in the article. It's really a great idea though and looking up Michael Roan's research is pretty interesting in general.

[wyandottecaver]

there was a test of a similiar method I heard about at an Indiana cave. It was conducted for the military investigating ways to "map" caves from the entrance per the conflict in Afghanistan. Presumably this was for cases where GPR was not availablee or suitable. Perhaps the folks who would be writing articles are locked away on Area 57

[JR-Orion]

That was a nice read, thanks.

The 2005 movie The Cave shows a little hand held device with a flip out screen. The cavers (cave divers, I think) would stick the device in an opening, fire off an echo pulse of some sort, and the freshly mapped passage would appear on the screen. Nice and easy.

Anyway, I assume that was just Hollywood magic at work. Was interesting to read about the real thing.