Cameras and carcasses: historical and current methods for using artificial food falls to study deep-water animals

Deep-ocean animals remain poorly understood compared to their shallow-water relatives, mainly because of the great cost and difficulty involved in obtaining reliable ecological data. This is a serious issue as exploitation of deep-water resources progresses without sufficient data being available to assess its risks and impacts. First described almost 40 years ago, the use of baited cameras was pioneered by deep-sea biologists and is now a widely used technique for the assessing patterns of animal behaviour, abundance and biodiversity. The technique provides a non-destructive and cost-effective means of collecting data, where other techniques such as trawling are difficult or impractical. This review will first describe the evolution of baited camera techniques in deep-sea research from the early deployments, through recent programs to investigate trends in animal distribution with depth, latitude, and ocean basin. In the second section the techniques used for imaging, baiting, and analysis are synthesized, with special consideration for the modeling techniques used in assessing animal abundance and biomass

Oceanus.

v. 38, no.1 (1995

Mapping and classification of ecologically sensitive marine habitats using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery and object-based image analysis (OBIA)

Nowadays, emerging technologies, such as long-range transmitters, increasingly miniaturized components for positioning, and enhanced imaging sensors, have led to an upsurge in the availability of new ecological applications for remote sensing based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), sometimes referred to as “drones”. In fact, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry coupled with imagery acquired by UAVs offers a rapid and inexpensive tool to produce high-resolution orthomosaics, giving ecologists a new way for responsive, timely, and cost-effective monitoring of ecological processes. Here, we adopted a lightweight quadcopter as an aerial survey tool and object-based image analysis (OBIA) workflow to demonstrate the strength of such methods in producing very high spatial resolution maps of sensitive marine habitats. Therefore, three different coastal environments were mapped using the autonomous flight capability of a lightweight UAV equipped with a fully stabilized consumer-grade RGB digital camera. In particular we investigated a Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow, a rocky coast with nurseries for juvenile fish, and two sandy areas showing biogenic reefs of Sabelleria alveolata. We adopted, for the first time, UAV-based raster thematic maps of these key coastal habitats, produced after OBIA classification, as a new method for fine-scale, low-cost, and time saving characterization of sensitive marine environments which may lead to a more effective and efficient monitoring and management of natural resource

First AUV and ROV investigation of seismogenic faults in the Alboran Sea (Western Meditarranean)

In May-June 2015 we carried out the SHAKE cruise on board the RV “Sarmiento de Gamboa” the first in situ investigation using state-of-the-art underwater vehicles, the AUVs “AsterX” and “IdefX” (IFREMER, France) and the ROV “Max Rover” (HCMR, Greece). Here we present how these vehicles helped us to achieve our main goals to survey active seismogenic faults and associated structures of the Eastern Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean).Peer Reviewe

Advanced Mapping of the Seafloor Using Sea Vehicle Mounted Sounding Technologies

A large proportion of the Earth’s surface is the deep sea. Numerous fields require access to seafloor topography and geomorphology. With the emergence of different types of underwater vehicles, especially the commercialization of near-seafloor micro-topographical mapping sonars, near-seafloor micro-topographical detection in the deep sea is possible. Near-seafloor micro-topographical exploration allows accurate detection of the seafloor using multibeam echosounder, side-scan sonar, and bathymetric side-scan sonar carried on-board various vehicles, including deep-tow, autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, and human-occupied vehicles. Near-seafloor micro-topographical detection can obtain more accurate micro-topography and micro-geomorphology of the seafloor compared to full sea depth topographical detection. In this chapter, the basic principles of three types of near-seafloor micro-topographical mapping sonars are analyzed. Then, four types of underwater vehicles that are suitable for near-seafloor micro-topographical mapping are briefly discussed. Factors affecting mapping and detection results are presented using the Jiaolong human-occupied vehicle and its bathymetric side-scan sonar as an example. Next, the entire data processing and mapping methods are described. Finally, two typical detection results obtained by the Jiaolong bathymetric side-scan sonar in deep-sea are given

Underwater robotics in the future of arctic oil and gas operations

Master's thesis in Petroleum engineeringArctic regions have lately been in the centre of increasing attention due to high vulnerability to climate change and the retreat in sea ice cover. Commercial actors are exploring the Arctic for new shipping routes and natural resources while scientific activity is being intensified to provide better understanding of the ecosystems. Marine surveys in the Arctic have traditionally been conducted from research vessels, requiring considerable resources and involving high risks where sea ice is present. Thus, development of low-cost methods for collecting data in extreme areas is of interest for both industrial purposes and environmental management. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the use of underwater vehicles as sensor platforms for oil and gas industry applications with focus on seabed mapping and monitoring. Theoretical background and a review of relevant previous studies are provided prior to presentation of the fieldwork, which took place in January 2017 in Kongsfjorden (Svalbard). The fieldwork was a part of the Underwater Robotics and Polar Night Biology course offered at the University Centre in Svalbard. Applied unmanned platforms included remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV). They were equipped with such sensors as side-scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounder, camera and others. The acquired data was processed and used to provide information about the study area. The carried out analysis of the vehicle performance gives an insight into challenges specific to marine surveys in the Arctic regions, especially during the period of polar night. The discussion is focused on the benefits of underwater robotics and integrated platform surveying in remote and harsh environment. Recommendations for further research and suggestions for application of similar vehicles and sensors are also given in the thesis

Advanced Engineering Laboratory project summaries : 1995-1996

The Advanced Engineering Laboratory of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a development laboratory within the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department. Its function is the development of oceanographic instrumentation to test developing theories in oceanography and to enhance current research projects in other disciplines within the community. This report summarizes recent and ongoing projects performed by members of this laboratory

Oceanus.

v. 34, no. 1 (1991