Survey of a World War II Derelict Minefield with the Fluorescence Imaging Laser Line Scan Sensor

LONG TERM GOALS. This short-term project supports the long-term goals of the Coastal Benthic Optical Properties Fluorescence Laser Line Scan Sensor CoBOPFILLS project Award N001499WX30131 summarized in its report. Specifically, the long-term goal is to extend MCM capabilities into highly cluttered environments. The primary sensor technology currently employed to detect and classify mines is acoustics. Sonars perform this mission admirably in acoustically benign environments. However, their performance degrades rapidly in cluttered environments. Our prototype Fluorescence Imaging Laser Line Scan FILLS sensor1,2,3,4,5 has demonstrated that fluorescence imagery provides strong signatures which may be used to separate clutter from mines. The images above show the red, green, and yellow fluorescence channel images along with a pseudocolor representation of these three fluorescence channels of mine like objects MLOs in a coral reef. It can be expected that sonars would have great difficulty in this environment. On the other hand, the FILLS signatures of the MLOs exhibit a clear and distinct contrast from the background. Specifically, the MLOs present a near-zero FILLS signature in the red and yellow fluorescence channels, while the background sediments and coral present much stronger signatures in these channels. These contrasting signatures may be exploited to rapidly detect and classify MLOs in highly cluttered environments. By so doing, this technology has the potential to extend MCM capabilities into highly cluttered environments.