Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:21:39.066Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

SCUBA diver-operated low-light-level video system for use in underwater research and survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

G. W. Potts
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB
J. W. Wood
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB
J. M. Edwards
Affiliation:
The Laboratory, Marine Biological Association, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB

Extract

Television cameras and video equipment are well established as tools in many areas of marine research and have been reviewed by Barnes (1963), Myrberg (1973), Harris (1980), and Holme (1984, 1985). The TV camera is usually mounted on a remote sledge (Machan & Fedra, 1975; Holme & Barrett, 1977) or submersible, often with arrays of lights, and lacks the manoeuvrability that is necessary for many types of detailed survey and behavioural recording. Commercial and industrial uses also demand high-resolution equipment that is often contained in bulky underwater cases capable of operating at great depths and well below that possible by the conventional SCUBA diver. It is not unusual for the equipment to be used in conjunction with external lighting units where natural light levels are too low for the use of ambient light, and is dependent on an external power supply normally situated in the surface support vessel or within a submersible (Sisman, 1982).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barnes, H., 1963. Underwater television. Oceanography and Marine Biology, an Annual Review, 1, 115128.Google Scholar
Bascom, W., 1976. An underwater television system. In Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, 1976, pp. 171174. Southern California Water Research Project: E1 Segundo, California.Google Scholar
Harris, R. J., 1980. Improving the design of underwater TV cameras. International Underwater Systems Design, 2, 711.Google Scholar
Holme, N. A., 1984. Photography and television. In Methods for the Study of Marine Benthos (ed. Holme, N. A. and Mclntyre, A. D.), pp. 6698. Oxford: Blackwell. [IBP Handbook no. 16.]Google Scholar
Holme, N. A., 1985. Use of photographic and television cameras on the continental shelf. In Underwater Photography and Television for Scientists (ed. George, J. D., Lythgoe, G. I. and Lythgoe, J. N.), pp. 8899. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Holme, N. A. & Barrett, R. L., 1977. A sledge with television and photographic cameras for quantitative investigation of the epifauna on the continental shelf. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57, 391403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Machan, R. & Fedra, K., 1975. A new towed underwater camera system for wide-ranging benthic surveys. Marine Biology, 33, 7584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myrberg, A. A. Jr, 1973. Underwater television-a tool for the marine biologist. Bulletin of Marine Science, 23, 824836.Google Scholar
Sisman, D. (ed.), 1982. The Professional Diver's Handbook. London: Submex Ltd.Google Scholar
Woods, J. N. & Lythgoe, J. N. (ed.), 1971. Underwater Science. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar