September
2017
Sentinel V SC and RT Operation Manual
Page 198
EAR-Controlled Technology Subject to Restrictions Contained on the Cover Page.
optimal. In high backscatter areas, it may be necessary to raise this setting in order to de-
tect bottom throughout the range of the system.
#BY – Transmit Length
Purpose
Scales the bottom mode transmit.
Format
#BYnn
Range:
nn = 0 to 100 %
Default:
#BY20
The default setting for this command should never be changed without through testing, as
changes to
this parameter have the potential to produce incorrect velocity and/or range data.
Description The BY command sets the transmit length for a bottom track ping as a percentage of the
altitude over the sea bottom. The default setting has been designed to optimize the tradeoff
between energy consumption and the ability to detect the bottom with combined tilt/slope
of up to about 15 degrees. Smaller values result in shorter transmits, which use less energy,
but which may not fully ensonify the beam on the sea bottom, especially if the instrument is
tilted or if the bottom has a slope, resulting in velocity bias. Larger values result in longer
transmit pulses (up to a point) which may allow bottom detection at larger values of
tilt/slope, but will consume more energy, and may decrease the resolution of the range-to-
bottom measurement.
