Obtaining satisfactory visibility with underwater optical imaging has been historically difficult due to the absorptive and scattering properties of seawater. However, recent advancements in hardware, software, and algorithmic methods have led to noticeable improvement in system operational range.
Especially challenging is capturing color in the water due to the heavy non-uniform attenuation of light across the visible spectrum. The result is a dramatic hue shift towards blue. Yet, observing color in water is important for the monitoring and surveillance as well as marine studies related to species identification, individual and group behavior.
Better understanding underwater optics and imaging in open waters is essential when it comes to evaluating aquatic life. Studying the effects of ever-changing environmental conditions will help us better understand how life on terra firma is affected by these changes. Technological advancements will allow for more accurate future predictions of underwater changes.
As these advancements continue to take place in underwater optics
imaging, UKA is leading the way in designing a lens with the exact precision necessary for your equipment. Our commitment to you is accuracy from beginning to end, as our entire operation is done in-house.
In 2014, a team from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research and the Royal Netherlands Navy, used new image-enhancing software for cameras allowing scientists to more easily observe details under water. They also used Nvidia Corp.’s CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) graphics processing unit to develop new imaging software that uses algorithms based on imaging systems for compound security and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Low-contrast changes, interference due to camera noise and floating particles such as ‘sea snow’ has traditionally been an issue with underwater cameras. According to the researchers, this is especially true with cameras mounted to remote operation vehicle systems.
The new color correction algorithm developed by the team restores a scene’s original colors; however, each color correction must be designed from scratch for the specific underwater imaging situation.
At a finer level is microscopic investigation of the sea floor. An underwater computer with an interface to a microscopic imaging unit is enabling scientists to noninvasively image seafloor environments and organisms in situ at nearly µM resolution. Developed by a team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, the system — Benthic Underwater Microscope (BUM) — will help scientists better understand the dynamic ecological processes taking place underwater on a microscopic scale.
To test the instrument’s ability to capture small-scale processes taking place underwater, the researchers used the imaging system to view millimeter-sized coral polyps off the coast of Israel in the Red Sea and off the coast of Maui, Hawaii.
During experiments in the Red Sea, the researchers set up the BUM to capture the interactions of two corals of different species placed close to each other. The images revealed micro-scale processes in which corals wage a chemical turf battle to destroy other species in a competition for seafloor space.
“This underwater microscope is the first instrument to image the seafloor at such small scales,” said Andrew Mullen, graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. “The system is capable of seeing features as small as single cells underwater.”
As previously noted, understanding our oceans, the ebb and flow of the sea micro-systems, the migratory patterns of sea life, along with the effects of climate change, helps us understand the power that lies beneath. Continued advancement in underwater imaging technology is a growing field allowing a more precise view.
Universe Kogaku designs and manufactures optical lenses for underwater optical imaging systems, security, high tech and electronic applications. We stock 1000’s of standard lens assemblies and can custom design a solution for scanners, CCTV, CCD/CMOS, medical imaging, surveillance systems, machine vision and night vision systems.