One of the primary characteristics of the marine environment is the speed of sound, which very sensitively reflects its smallest changes. Moreover, this characteristic is integral, integral. It inseparably characterizes the state of the system, which is formed by a whole complex of influences and reactions to them. By separating the effects and reactions on the so-called temperature, salinity, pressure, known to us at this stage of the development of the physics, we supposedly simplify the system and its understanding, but in fact we get confused, giving one of the factors very great or very little importance (the possibilities of influence on system). Acoustic tomography is based, among other things, on the sound irradiation of the marine environment and the analysis of the received signal for the purpose of evaluating changes in its characteristics after passing through the water space. Changes in the characteristics of the acoustic signal can occur for annual reasons, one of which is spatial changes in the vertical distribution of sound speed. As a result of theoretical research in the direction of passive acoustic tomography, using the methods of modeling the refraction of acoustic waves, a new type of quantitative characteristics of the acoustic field was determined for the first time. The principle of determining the appropriate reference characteristic of the acoustic field is proposed, on the basis of which the basis for creating algorithms for restoring the vertical distribution of sound speed is developed. The algorithm for determining the reference characteristic, including, includes the calculation of acoustic energy losses, which is translated into the frequency domain to determine the positive extremum of the amplitude spectrum and the calculation of the reference characteristic of the regional acoustic field in the time domain. One of a number of algorithms for determining the spatial isotropy of the vertical sound speed distribution has been adapted. The implementation of the specified algorithm of passive acoustic tomography will provide ship sonar with input data for depth determination, which will increase the safety of navigation.