Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

SS07 Biomechanics: Turbulent Mass Transfer (Environmental Connections)

Date: Monday, February 12, 2001, Time: 4:45:00 PM

Location: San Miguel

Moore, K, D, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, MPL 0238, La Jolla, USA, kdmoore@mpl.ucsd.edu

Jaffe, J, S, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, MPL 0238, La Jolla, USA, jules@mpl.ucsd.edu

BENTHIC MICRO-SCALE MEASUREMENTS USING AN UNDERWATER LASER LINE SCAN SYSTEM

In order to measure the spatial variability and temporal evolution of the seafloor, we deployed a newly developed bathymetric laser line scan system '3D Sea Scan' for a period of 11 days in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is capable of measuring reflectance and bathymetry maps simultaneously with exact registration so that different benthic particulates in the troughs and crests of sand waves (2-3 cm) may be identified as the seafloor topography changes. In a typical operation, the lateral resolution of the system can be as fine as 1 mm with sub-millimeter height accuracy. The results indicate that the sea floor rose by roughly 0.5 cm at the crests and twice that in the troughs, resulting in a reduced sand wave amplitude (from ~2.5 cm to ~2 cm). Additional information about local current obtained with an S4 current meter indicated that currents in the area were extremely small (~2-5 cm/s) suggesting that the changes were almost entirely due to animal activity. Details of the experimental setup, system operation and discussion of the data are presented.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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