Long Term autonomous underwater video monitoring in Antarctica

What is it about?

Antarctica is a remote continent and underwater monitoring is particularly difficult, mainly due to the low temperature and ice cover of the sea surface. However, monitoring the underwater environment over long periods of time is crucial for understanding the functioning of these extreme underwater ecosystems and for estimating the impacts of global change. The GUARD1 stand-alone smart camera (European Patent EP2863257B1) was deployed from January to November, encompassing both summer and Antarctic nights and corresponding transition periods, capturing an image every nine hours. The smart camera produced a unique set of images of organisms lying on the seabed and in the water column, from which relevant ecological information was extracted using automatic image analysis techniques.

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Photo by henrique setim on Unsplash

Photo by henrique setim on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The use of the GUARD1 smart camera has demonstrated the possibility of performing non-invasive monitoring activities in extreme underwater environments through the use of autonomous and stand-alone imaging devices. The set of acquired images has a relevant ecological value as it reveals dynamics of the observed ecosystems that can only be obtained through continuous and prolonged observations over time, which cannot be obtained with the state-of-the-art monitoring approaches commonly implemented in Antarctica. Moreover, the use of automated image analysis algorithms allowed to obtain an accurate description of the observed marine organisms.

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