Non-contact sea water optical attenuation meter

Navy mine-hunting assets such as the Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) depend on the penetration of laser light into seawater for detection and classification of sea mines. Their performance depends upon local water properties which may be highly variable, especially in littoral waters. During this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project Physical Sciences Inc. will develop a compact, handheld, seawater optical attenuation meter for shipboard deployment and operation. The k-meter will provide Navy personnel with measurement data that guides deployment and operation of organic mine-hunting systems such as ALMDS. The LIDAR based meter will incorporate integrated data collection and processing systems. Algorithms will be developed to convert the measured LIDAR signal temporal profiles to depth-dependent attenuation measurements. The Navy will benefit from the measurement data provided by the k-meter by deploying assets such as ALMDS only when water conditions are consistent with their use. In addition, knowledge based application of the assets will reduce sustainment costs through improved operational efficiency derived from eliminating unproductive system deployments, leading to reduced operation and maintenance costs of both ALMDS and supporting aircraft, as well as reduced crew fatigue.