High Altitude Diving Depths

Abstract

In order to make any sea level dive table usable during high altitude diving, a new conversion factor is created. We introduce the standardized equivalent sea depth (SESD), which allows conversion of the actual lake diving depth (ALDD) to an equivalent sea dive depth. SESD is defined as the sea depth in meters or feet for a standardized sea dive, equivalent to a mountain lake dive at any altitude, such that Mountain lakes contain fresh water with a relative density that can be standardized to 1000 kg m−3, and sea water can likewise be standardized to a relative density of 1033 kg m−3, at the general gravity of 9.80665 m s−2. The water density ratio (1000/1033) refers to the fresh lake water and the standardized sea water densities. Following calculation of the SESD factor, we recommend the use of our simplified diving table or any acceptable sea level dive table with two fundamental guidelines: 1. The classical decompression stages (30, 20, and 10 feet or 9, 6, and 3 m) are corrected to the altitude lake level, dividing the stage depth by the SESD factor. 2. Likewise, the lake ascent rate during diving is equal to the sea ascent rate divided by the SESD factor.