Sound speed profile
![Figure 1. Table 1's data in graphical format.](/Images/godic/202502/12/Sound_speed_profile_plotted_using_the_data_in_table_1_on_the_Sound_Speed_Profile_page2327.png")
A sound speed profile shows the speed of sound in water at different vertical levels. It has two general representations:
Table 1 shows an example of the first representation; figure 1 shows the same information using the second representation.
Although given as a function of depth, the speed of sound in the ocean does not depend solely on depth. Rather, for a given depth, the speed of sound depends on the temperature at that depth, the depth itself, and the salinity at that depth, in that order.