Patent ID: 7782712

Claim:
A towed array comprising: a tubular body with an interior surrounded by an exterior surface and a given length for said tubular body; a plurality of hydrophones disposed within the interior of said tubular body and spaced along the length of said tubular body; a plurality of hot-film sensors mounted on said tubular body flush with the exterior surface, said plurality of hot-film sensors arranged in a plurality of groups spaced along the length of said tubular body with each of said groups disposed in alignment with each other and with each group of said plurality of groups comprising at least two of said hot-film sensors, the distance between said hot-film sensors is less than three feet; and a plurality of anemometer circuits, each anemometer circuit of said plurality of anemometer circuits in communication with one of said hot-film sensors wherein the alignment of said groups facilitates determination of a local angle of inclination between separate hot film sensors by activation of designated anemometer circuits for designated hot film sensors and adjusting the voltage with said designated hot film sensors to use a calculation of the voltage levels to determine a mean and fluctuating wall shear stress for further determination of the angle of inclination.