On August 25th, 13:00 UTC, CoSV hosted the webinar entitled “Virtual Fieldwork on the Seafloor with the help of Robotics and 3D Visualization”. This webinar will be presented by Dr. Tom Kwasnitschka, Head of Seafloor Visualization Group, Technology and Logistics Centre, at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
To view the webinar recording, click this link.
Abstract:
Complex studies of submarine volcanic outcrops may suffer from a lack of situational awareness, especially when it comes to the assessment of morphologically complex areas such as hydrothermal vent sites or (sub-)vertical outcrops. Such sites are generally surveyed using remotely operated vehicles, with their camera system providing only limited field of view, limiting productivity compared to on-land studies. We briefly report advances of interlinked projects to improve on this situation: (a) The Schmidt Ocean Institute funded cruise FK160320 visited the Niua South volcanic field in Tongan waters, photogrammetrically mapping an area 500m x 500m x 80m at “industrial” scales. We comment on the challenges of photogrammetrically processing and visualizing a data set of 220.000 images resulting in billions of 3D points, including the lessons learned regarding survey design. The consequence of this expedition was the LIGHTHOUSE technology validation project, in which a highly integrated suite of acoustic sensors, cameras and laser scanners are fused to create a real-time 360° model of the seafloor surroundings. This project sported the development of the world’s first commercially available native underwater, deep-ocean capable survey lens in cooperation with Carl Zeiss Jena. Lastly, we will touch on our efforts to visualize the seafloor in the spatially immersive ARENA2 visualization dome at GEOMAR, facilitating quantitative visualization and virtual field work.
On November 29th, CoSV hosted the webinar entitled “Assessment of the Physical Properties of the Umbrella Clouds associated with Submarine Eruptions”. This webinar was presented by Dr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, of UCLA and Vanderbilt University, USA. We continue on our…
