posted on Oct, 17 2012 @ 10:34 AM
reply to post by Corruption Exposed
As stereologist pointed out, you need more than one to pinpoint the epicenter of the quake, and not just the Lat and Long of it, but the depth too.
That's normally how passive devices work: 1 will tell you that something happened, it might even give you a basic direction. 2 will give you a better
sense of direction and a better estimate of distance (and in these cases, depth). 3 detectors however, will allow you to triangulate with much more
accuracy the Lat and Long and the depth.
It can also help determine magnitude better.
Another good example, besides the one that Stereologist used, is Electronic Warfare, in which passive devices (those that listen only, not transmit)
are used to detect electromagnetic energy (such as a enemy's radar system). The display used by the EW's in the CIC shows a bearing line only from
the ship. RF energy from a radar is detected in a certain direction.
If other ships in the fleet also use their equipment to detect that RF energy, they also will only have bearing lines. But when the tactical data
system uses the position of each ship, and the bearing line of each for that enemy radar, where all 3 lines intersect is a good indication of the
actual range of the enemy radar system.