Digital signal processing to enhance oceanographic observations

Abstract

For oceanographic data signals are usually red while the quantization noise is white, and this spectral mismatch limits our ability to detect short-term (high-frequency) fluctuations. A method of preemphasis and deconvolution is presented that reduces quantization noise and increases the resolution of short-term fluctuations by a factor of several hundred without any reduction in the full-scale range of the measurements. Examples are presented of a 12-bit thermometer with a range of -5° to 35°C and a resolution of 60μ°C, and a 14-bit pressure gauge with a range of 600db and a resolution of 1×10-4db. -from Authors