Seabed video and still images from the northern Weddell Sea and the western flanks of the Powell Basin

• Published in: Earth System Science Data
• Main Authors: Purser, A., Dreutter, S., Griffiths, H., Hehemann, L., Jerosch, K., Nordhausen, A., Piepenburg, D., Richter, C., Schroder, H., Dorschel, B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Weddell Sea; Weddell; Powell Basin; Nachtigaller Shoal
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-8772-E; http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-8774-C

Research vessels equipped with fibre optic and copper-cored coaxial cables support the live onboard inspection of high-bandwidth marine data in real time. This allows for towed still-image and video sleds to be equipped with latest-generation higher-resolution digital camera systems and additional sensors. During RV Polarstern expedition PS118 in February-April 2019, the recently developed Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) of the Alfred Wegener Institute was used to collect still-image and video data from the seafloor at a total of 11 predominantly ice-covered locations in the northern Weddell Sea and Powell Basin. Still images of 26-megapixel resolution and HD (high-definition) quality video data were recorded throughout each deployment. In addition to downward-facing video and still-image cameras, the OFOBS also mounted side-scanning and forward-facing acoustic systems, which facilitated safe deployment in areas of high topographic complexity, such as above the steep flanks of the Powell Basin and the rapidly shallowing, iceberg-scoured Nachtigaller Shoal. To localise collected data, the OFOBS system was equipped with a Posidonia transponder for ultra-short baseline triangulation of OFOBS positions.