Bottom focused cameras on the OOI Endurance Array and their potential value to ocean ecology

Chris Holm, Oregon State University, CEOAS, Corvallis, OR, United States, Kristin Politano, Oregon State University, Integrative Biology, Corvallis, OR, United States, Jonathan P Fram, Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, OR, United States and Edward Paul Dever, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
Abstract:
The NSF sponsored Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is focused on generating a high-quality long-term data set for a broad community of users. The OOI’s Endurance Array uses fixed and mobile platforms to observe cross-shelf and along-shelf variability in the coastal upwelling region along the Oregon and Washington Coasts. Cameras are deployed on the Endurance Array’s fixed platforms 1m from the bottom at ~25m (inshore), ~80m (shelf), ~500m (offshore) water depths on both the Oregon and Washington mooring arrays. These cameras collect images every 4 hours and telemeter real time images every 12hrs. The collected images could be valuable assets to the broader oceanographic community studying seafloor ecology, marine snow, and water clarity as well as others. Images from the spring 2019 deployment of the Endurance Array assets show potential value at 25m in assessing nearshore water clarity for diving operations, and LIDAR surveys. The shelf and offshore site photos could be useful in quantifying marine snow and seafloor ecology. A survey link is included on the poster in order to gather your feedback on which uses are most important to you the user and help identify camera settings and post processing (machine learning) efforts that could be implemented to create a valuable data set for the Oceanographic community. Please stop by and help shape an asset that can serve your research needs.
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