Seafloor Characterization and Mapping Pods (SCAMP): submarine-mounted geophysical mapping

Summary form only given. In 1998 the Seafloor Characterization and Mapping Pods (SCAMP) were deployed on the US Navy nuclear attack submarine USS HAWKIBILL for unclassified swath mapping and subbottom profiling under the Arctic ice canopy. Data was collected under the SCICEX program. SCAMP consists of a Sidescan Swath Bathymetric Sonar (SSBS) and a High-Resolution Subbottom Profiler (HRSP), and a marine gravity meter that are integrated with a physically compact Data Acquisition and Quality Control System (DAQCS). The transducers for each of the sonars are mounted in purpose built hydrodynamic pods that are temporarily fastened to special purpose threaded weldments along the boat's keel. The inboard electronics for the system are packaged for submarine installation and mounted in the torpedo room. The SSBS is a 12 kiloHertz SeaMARC design adapted for under-ice mapping by adding transmit and receive beam forming and shading to suppress spurious returns from the ice canopy. Transducers are housed in a keel-mounted pod with electronics mounted outside the pressure hull but above the water line when surfaced. Swath image data is produced over a 135 to 140 degree swath centered at nadir while high quality bathymetry covers a 120 degree swath. The HRSP is a Bathy-2000P FM modulated subbottom profiler adapted for submarine installation and operation. It produces high quality subbottom data using an array of 9 DT-109 transducers driven by a 2 kilowatt transmitter. Seafloor penetration in excess of 100 meters with a resolution of 10s of centimeters is common in sediment filled areas of the Arctic basins. Initial at-sea tests on the submarine were conducted out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The first deployment in the Arctic took place during SCICEX-98 during which more than 30 days of data were collected in the data release area.