Underwater Video Sleds: Versatile and Cost Effective Tools for Habitat Mapping
| Book title | Marine Habitat Mapping Technology for Alaska |
|---|---|
| Year | 2008 |
| Article DOI | 10.4027/mhmta.2008.07 (about DOIs) |
| Pages | 99–107 |
| PDF link* | View full text in PDF format [540 KB] |
*This low-resolution PDF is optimized for viewing on screen. High-resolution chapters are available on CD only.
Abstract
Underwater video sleds have been useful to researchers through their capabilities in substrate mapping, acoustic ground truthing, fish habitat research, and applications to fish stock assessment. Sleds can be designed to suit a variety of substrates and seafloor conditions. Typical designs include bottom contacting, bottom tending or sleds suspended in the water column. In general, underwater video sleds are easily modified and accessorized with lasers, lights, altimeters, tracking systems, and other electronic devices. Simple sleds can be outfitted for a few thousand dollars, while more technically diverse sleds can cost 100 times that amount. The trade-offs between design simplicity and potential data products are inevitable and difficult choices result.
Advantages of video sleds over other visual observation methods can include the portability, simplicity, low cost, resilience to extreme conditions, and ease of maintenance. However, video sleds can observe only small swaths of seafloor, can be difficult to track accurately, and have limited utility for examining small or detailed features. In general, fine-scale control of underwater positioning is not achievable. Significant limitations of video sleds usually necessitate a secondary source of ground truthing information for habitat mapping.
Although qualitative data is easily obtained from most sled applications, transmitting what is observed on the screen to an accurate number in a spreadsheet is often time consuming and difficult. The importance of visualizing the objectives, data needs, statistical methods, and model application prior to choosing an underwater video sled or survey design cannot be underestimated.
