GoPros™ as an underwater photogrammetry tool for citizen science

Vincent Raoult*, Peter A. David, Sally F. Dupont, Ciaran P. Mathewson, Samuel J. O'Neill, Nicholas N. Powell, Jane E. Williamson

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    58 Citations (Scopus)
    162 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Citizen science can increase the scope of research in the marine environment; however, it suffers from necessitating specialized training and simplified methodologies that reduce research output. This paper presents a simplified, novel survey methodology for citizen scientists, which combines GoPro imagery and structure from motion to construct an ortho-corrected 3D model of habitats for analysis. Results using a coral reef habitat were compared to surveys conducted with traditional snorkelling methods for benthic cover, holothurian counts, and coral health. Results were comparable between the two methods, and structure from motion allows the results to be analysed off-site for any chosen visual analysis. The GoPro method outlined in this study is thus an effective tool for citizen science in the marine environment, especially for comparing changes in coral cover or volume over time.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere1960
    Pages (from-to)1-18
    Number of pages18
    JournalPeerJ
    Volume4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 25 Apr 2016

    Bibliographical note

    Copyright the Author(s) 2016. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

    Keywords

    • Coral cover
    • Coral health
    • Coral reef
    • Diversity
    • Photogrammetry
    • Structure-from-motion
    • Transects

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