What physical dependency poses a significant hurdle for accurate time-of-flight measurement in air?

Answer

The speed of sound variability based on air temperature

While the speed of light is constant, the speed of sound through a medium like air is not, which creates a major challenge for precise distance calculation using the time-of-flight method. The speed of sound is highly dependent on the physical characteristics of the medium, most notably temperature. For instance, a change of just 1 degree Celsius can alter the speed of sound by approximately 0.6 meters per second. If sound travels at $343 ext{ m/s}$ at $20^ ext{ extdegree C}$ but drops to $331 ext{ m/s}$ at $0^ ext{ extdegree C}$, the round trip time for a fixed distance changes measurably. This inherent physical dependency means that early analog systems struggled severely with accuracy unless they incorporated environmental compensation mechanisms, a hurdle now often overcome by modern integrated circuits.

What physical dependency poses a significant hurdle for accurate time-of-flight measurement in air?

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