{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T07:05:31Z","timestamp":1780383931861,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,1,28]],"date-time":"2016-01-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1453939200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s16020164","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,1,28]],"date-time":"2016-01-28T10:31:20Z","timestamp":1453977080000},"page":"164","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":53,"title":["DeepSurveyCam\u2014A Deep Ocean Optical Mapping System"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Tom","family":"Kwasnitschka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"K\u00f6ser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jan","family":"Sticklus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marcel","family":"Rothenbeck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tim","family":"Wei\u00df","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emanuel","family":"Wenzlaff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Timm","family":"Schoening","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lars","family":"Triebe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anja","family":"Steinf\u00fchrer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Colin","family":"Devey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jens","family":"Greinert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, RD4\/RD2, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,1,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Mobley, C.D. (1994). Light and Water: Radiative Transfer in Natural Waters, Academic Press."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pocean.2004.07.001","article-title":"The role of seawater constituents in light backscattering in the ocean","volume":"61","author":"Stramski","year":"2004","journal-title":"Prog. Oceanogr."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1016\/S1054-3139(03)00006-7","article-title":"An overview of seabed-mapping technologies in the context of marine habitat classification","volume":"60","author":"Kenny","year":"2003","journal-title":"ICES J. Mar. Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Kinsey, J.C., Eustice, R.M., and Whitcomb, L.L. (2006, January 20\u201322). A survey of underwater vehicle navigation: Recent advances and new challenges. Proceedings of the IFAC Conference of Manoeuvering and Control of Marine Craft (IFAC 2006), Lisbon, Portugal."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"152","DOI":"10.5670\/oceanog.2007.89","article-title":"Autonomous and remotely operated vehicle technology for hydrothermal vent discovery, exploration, and sampling","volume":"20","author":"Yoerger","year":"2007","journal-title":"Oceanography"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ballard, R.D., Yoerger, D.R., Stewart, W.K., and Bowen, A. (1991, January 1\u20133). ARGO\/JASON: A remotely operated survey and sampling system for full-ocean depth. Proceedings of the IEEE\/MTS OCEANS Conference, Honolulu, HI, USA.","DOI":"10.21236\/ADA237142"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1248","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apacoust.2008.07.010","article-title":"Acquisition and processing of backscatter data for habitat mapping\u2014Comparison of multibeam and sidescan systems","volume":"70","author":"Huvenne","year":"2009","journal-title":"Appl. Acoust."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csr.2012.03.008","article-title":"A multi-method approach for benthic habitat mapping of shallow coastal areas with high-resolution multibeam data","volume":"39\u201340","author":"Micallef","year":"2012","journal-title":"Cont. Shelf Res."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"1","article-title":"Structure, temporal evolution, and heat flux estimates from a deep-sea hydrothermal field derived from seafloor image mosaics","volume":"13","author":"Barreyre","year":"2011","journal-title":"Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst."},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Mikhail, E.M., Bethel, J.S., and McGlone, J.C. (2004). Manual of Photogrammetry, American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. [5th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hartley, R., and Zisserman, A. (2003). Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511811685"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Szeliski, R. (2010). Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications, Springer Science & Business Media.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-84882-935-0"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Vincent, A.G., Pessel, N., Borgetto, M., Jouffroy, J., Opderbecke, J., and Rigaud, V. (2003, January 22\u201326). Real-time geo-referenced video mosaicking with the MATISSE system. Proceedings of the IEEE OCEANS Conference, San Diego, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANS.2003.178271"},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Pizarro, O., Eustice, R., and Singh, H. (2004, January 9\u201312). Large area 3D reconstructions from underwater surveys. Proceedings of the IEEE OCEANS Conference, Kobe, Japan."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1177\/0278364907074473","article-title":"Towards High-Resolution Imaging from Underwater Vehicles","volume":"26","author":"Singh","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Robot. Res."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1002\/rob.20324","article-title":"Generation and visualization of large-scale three-dimensional reconstructions from underwater robotic surveys","volume":"27","author":"Pizarro","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Field Robot."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1109\/MRA.2011.2181772","article-title":"Monitoring of Benthic Reference Sites: Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle","volume":"19","author":"Williams","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4743","DOI":"10.1002\/ggge.20280","article-title":"Detection of diffuse seafloor venting using structured light imaging","volume":"14","author":"Smart","year":"2013","journal-title":"Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jordt-Sedlazeck, A., and Koch, R. (2013, January 1\u20138). Refractive Structure from Motion for Underwater Images. Proceedings of the IEEE international Conference on Computer Vision, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCV.2013.14"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Escartin, J., Garcia, R., Barreyre, T., Cannat, M., Gracias, N., Shihavuddin, A., and Mittelstaedt, E. (2013, January 5\u20138). Optical methods to monitor temporal changes at the seafloor: The Lucky Strike deep-sea hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge). Proceedings of the IEEE International Underwater Technology Symposium, Tokyo, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/UT.2013.6519838"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1016\/j.margeo.2014.03.012","article-title":"Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs): Their past, present and future contributions to the advancement of marine geoscience","volume":"352","author":"Wynn","year":"2014","journal-title":"Mar. Geol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sharp, K.M., and White, R.H. (2008, January 15\u201318). More tools in the toolbox: The naval oceanographic office\u2019s Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS) 6000 AUV. Proceedings of the IEEE OCEANS Conference, Quebec City, QC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANS.2008.5152120"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Escartin, J., Garcia, R., Delaunoy, O., Ferrer, J., Gracias, N., Elibol, A., Cufi, X., Neumann, L., Fornari, D.J., and Humphris, S.E. (2008). Globally aligned photomosaic of the Lucky Strike hydrothermal vent field (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 37 degrees 18.50\u2032 N): Release of georeferenced data, mosaic construction, and viewing software. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9.","DOI":"10.1029\/2008GC002204"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.5670\/oceanog.2007.14","article-title":"Applications of geo-referenced underwater photo mosaics in marine biology and archaeology","volume":"20","author":"Ludvigsen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Oceanography"},{"key":"ref_25","first-page":"626","article-title":"A Novel blending technique for underwater gigamosaicing","volume":"34","author":"Escartin","year":"2012","journal-title":"IEEE J. Ocean. Eng."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Roman, C., Inglis, G., and Rutter, J. (2010, January 24\u201327). Application of structured light imaging for high resolution mapping of underwater archaeological sites. Proceedings of the IEEE Oceans Conference, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANSSYD.2010.5603672"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"702","DOI":"10.1002\/rob.20350","article-title":"Robotic tools for deep water archaeology: Surveying an ancient shipwreck with an autonomous underwater vehicle","volume":"27","author":"Bingham","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Field Robot."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Hagen, P.E. (2014, January 15\u201317). Multi-Sensor Pipeline Inspection with AUV. Proceedings of the Oceanology International Conference, London, UK."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bodenmann, A., Thornton, B., and Ura, T. (2013, January 5\u20138). Development of long range color imaging for wide area 3D reconstructions of the seafloor. Proceedings of the IEEE Underwater Technology Symposium, Tokyo, Japan.","DOI":"10.1109\/UT.2013.6519824"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gracias, N., Ridao, P., Garcia, R., and Escartin, J. (2013, January 10\u201314). Mapping the Moon: Using a lightweight AUV to survey the site of the 17th century ship \u201cLa Lune\u201d. Proceedings of the IEEE\/MTS OCEANS Conference, Bergen, Norway.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANS-Bergen.2013.6608142"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.4319\/lom.2014.12.795","article-title":"A new method for ecological surveying of the abyss using autonomous underwater vehicle photography","volume":"12","author":"Morris","year":"2014","journal-title":"Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Williams, S.B., Pizarro, O., and Foley, B. (2015, January 24\u201326). Return to Antikythera: Multi-Session SLAM Based AUV Mapping of a First Century BC Wreck Site. Proceedings of the Field and Service Robotics Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-27702-8_4"},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"Sticklus, J., and Kwasnitschka, T. (2015). Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von in Vergussmasse Vergossenen Leuchten. (DE102014118672B3), German Patent, (In German)."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Underwater Camera Calibration. Available online: http:\/\/www.geomar.de\/go\/cameracalibration-e."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"OcamLib: Omnidirectional Camera Calibration Toolbox for Matlab. Available online: https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/scarabotix\/ocamcalib-toolbox."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1145\/245.247","article-title":"A multi resolution spline with application to image mosaics","volume":"2","author":"Burt","year":"1983","journal-title":"ACM Trans. Graph."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cageo.2012.10.008","article-title":"Doing Fieldwork on the Seafloor: Photogrammetric Techniques to yield 3D Visual Models from ROV Video","volume":"52","author":"Kwasnitschka","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1007\/s11263-007-0086-4","article-title":"Detailed Real-Time Urban 3D Reconstruction from Video","volume":"78","author":"Pollefeys","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Vis."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/16\/2\/164\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T19:18:26Z","timestamp":1760210306000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/16\/2\/164"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016,1,28]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,2]]}},"alternative-id":["s16020164"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s16020164","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2016,1,28]]}}}