title: DeepSurveyCam--A Deep Ocean Optical Mapping System.
abstract: Underwater photogrammetry and in particular systematic visual surveys of the deep sea are by far less developed than similar techniques on land or in space. The main challenges are the rough conditions with extremely high pressure, the accessibility of target areas (container and ship deployment of robust sensors, then diving for hours to the ocean floor), and the limitations of localization technologies (no GPS). The absence of natural light complicates energy budget considerations for deep diving flash-equipped drones. Refraction effects influence geometric image formation considerations with respect to field of view and focus, while attenuation and scattering degrade the radiometric image quality and limit the effective visibility. As an improvement on the stated issues, we present an AUV-based optical system intended for autonomous visual mapping of large areas of the seafloor (square kilometers) in up to 6000 m water depth. We compare it to existing systems and discuss tradeoffs such as resolution vs. mapped area and show results from a recent deployment with 90,000 mapped square meters of deep ocean floor.
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. tkwasnitschka@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kwasnitschka
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. kkoeser@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Köser
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. jsticklus@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sticklus
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. mrothenbeck@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rothenbeck
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. tweiss@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weiß
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. ewenzlaff@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wenzlaff
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. tschoening@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Timm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schoening
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. ltriebe@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Triebe
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. asteinfuehrer@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinführer
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. cdevey@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Devey
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany. jgreinert@geomar.de.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greinert
keywords: AUV; Photoscan; camera; deep sea; mapping; mosaicking; photogrammetry; survey