Small scale seafloor roughness measurement using a ROV

A method for seafloor roughness measurement was devised for a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), consisting of lasers and a video camera. It was designed to measure small-scale roughness in the range of spatial wavelengths from 0.01 to 1 m. This range of wavelengths is expected to be relevant to acoustic bottom backscattering in the frequency range roughly from 1 to 100 kHz, depending on grazing angle and orientation.