Underwater video profiler for the “in situ” study of suspended particulate matter

The Underwater Video Profiler (UVP) was constructed in the Laboratoire d´Oceanographie Biologique et d´Ecologie du Plancton Marin in Villefranche sur mer, France UPMC/CNRS). Two video camera systems have been devised to observe and quantify the distribution in space and in time of suspended particles and of macrozooplankton in the water column. The Underwater Video Profilers II and III are considered because of their known potential for detecting gelatinous zooplankton and marine snow. UVP model II consists of two video cameras with different magnifications and a Hi8 recorder mounted in a pressure case, battery and lighting systems fixed in a steel frame. The system is programmed before immersion and the data acquisition is autonomous. The video tapes can be copied or extracted immediately after recovery of the instrument. The cameras point vertically downward along the long axis of the frame towards the dark background. Illumination can be obtained by either one of two lighting systems