Expendable Seawater Optical Attenuation Meter (ESOAM)
Capability Description: A local estimate of extinction (c) and diffuse attenuation (kd) coefficients is generated leveraging returns from a backscatter lidar.
Key Features
ESOAM has been designed as a low-cost swim ahead sensor designed to characterize local ocean optical properties in support of mission planning. Key attributes include:
- A-size UUV compatible form factor
- Neutrally buoyant
- Low power (<20 W)
- 5 Hz update rate
- Extinction accuracy better than 10%
ESOAM Prototype in Underwater Enclosure
Benefit to Warfighter
Deployed on an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), the system can be used to perform an in situ survey of the intended operational area in advance of marine missions to project optical system performance. Leveraging this knowledge the warfighter can more effectively weigh mission risk against probability of mission success.
