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How the U.S. Navy is learning
to see in crowded waters
LSU assistant professor and oceanographer Mark
Benfield recently explored the depths of Knight Inlet, near the Canadian
coast, as part of a research project funded by the US
Navy. Benfield and his team of LSU researchers used his one-of-a-kind
zooplankton visualization and imaging system, or ZOOVIS camera, to supply
visual images to complement the sonar images of the ocean floor. Many
of the ever-changing elements of the ocean floor, such as currents, bottom
configurations, sealife, and variations in temperatures and salinity,
can create false images with sonar. Furthermore, dense clouds of zooplankton
can provide the perfect hiding spot for enemy warfare. By pairing the
sonar equipment with nets and ZOOVIS, the U.S. and Canadian navies will
have a clearer, more accurate account of what lies beneath the surface.
Benfield’s results will also be useful to civilian research as the
results will further our understanding of zooplankton and marine life.
Last updated April 2002
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