Environmental factors impacting the performance of airborne LIDAR sensors in the surf zone

摘要

The surf zone is a challenging environment for conducting mine countermeasures operations. The performance of acoustic sensors in this environment is extremely limited. Airborne LIDAR sensors have significantly better prospects for successfully working in this environment. However, the complex environment will be a driving factor limiting their performance. The environmental factors influencing the performance of airborne LIDAR sensors will be examined in this paper. These factors can be highly dynamic. Breaking surf action causes bottom sediment resuspension and the formation of bubbles and foam. The resuspended sediments then begin the process of settling, while the bubbles and foam begin to dissipate. All of these phenomena impact the optical properties of the water, which, in turn, impact the performance of the LIDAR system. An experiment was designed and conducted to study the impact of these dynamic processes on the optical properties of the water. The experiment was conducted in September 2002 at the Army Corp of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. Preliminary results from the analysis of this data are presented here. This work is being conducted by the Airborne Littoral Reconnaissance Technology (ALRT) project under ONR sponsorship.