The development of a towed vehicle for optical mapping in shallow water

Environmental mapping in shallow water is normally carried out by divers. However, divers make poor mapping platforms. In order to meet these needs, a semi-submersible imaging vessel was developed. However, its operation has demonstrated some important limitations. The first was that the system could operate to only about 6 m depth. The second limitation was that, as the observation pod was hard mounted into a work boat, it was difficult to transport long distances. In order to counter these difficulties, a small towed body was developed. The vehicle is designed to operate from the surface to 70 m depth and to provide vertical, stereo video imagery of the sea floor. The whole system is self contained and can operate off very small vessels. The vehicle is easily transportable which will allow us to do international comparisons of functional ecological groups and their relationship to depth and geology