Deep-ocean use of the SM2000 laser line scanner on submarine NR-1 demonstrates system potential for industry and basic science

Scientists and engineers who need seafloor images have had a stark choice between the resolution of photographs or the coverage of sonar. Laser line scan system (LLSS) technology uses a blue-green laser and a rotating mirror to illuminate individual scan-lines. By passing the device across the bottom in a track perpendicular to the scanlines, a LLSS can image a swath of the seafloor up to 30 m wide with centimeter resolution. Power requirements of gas lasers and need for stable tow vehicles have constrained use of this technology in the deep ocean. Navy Submarine NR-1 proved an optimal platform for imaging the seafloor on the continental slope, Gulf of Mexico with the Westinghouse SM2000 LLSS during a mission in October 1994. The authors collected images for basic research on hydrocarbon seep geology and biology at two chemosynthetic communities, at a brine pool, and at a mud volcano. They collected additional images for applied research at two seafloor drilling templates and a pipeline owned by Enserch Exploration Inc. Images collected during the NURP-funded mission were assembled into mosaics that cover areas of over 1600 sq meters