Biodiversity and Habitat Monitoring using Remotely operated vehicle (ROV)

Life underwater is truly fascinating and worth exploring. Underwater habitats or ecosystems commonly refer to the complex communities of organisms and their physical environment in aquatic habitats. These ecosystems can be found in various bodies of water, including oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and even underground aquifers. They are essential for supporting marine life and play a crucial role in maintaining the overall health of our planet.

Need for Biodiversity and Habitat Monitoring

Conservation of biodiversity and habitat is really important, as it helps maintain the stability of the ecosystem. Also, a large amount of the population depends on the biodiversity and natural habitat underwater in various aspects like food, medicine, aesthetically valuable things, and renewable resources, which help the economy. Drastic environmental changes directly influence aquatic biodiversity, as it depends on many other living organisms and indirectly depends on the health of the planet, and it should be preserved for future generations. The major threats to biodiversity and habitat degradation are climatic changes, pollution, and many other human activities. So it is very crucial to safeguard biodiversity and habitat. To achieve that, continuous monitoring of biodiversity and habitat should be done.

Conventional ways for monitoring Biodiversity and habitat and their limitations

There are numerous ways to keep track of habitat and biodiversity. The most popular way to monitor biodiversity is with underwater cameras operated by divers. Diver-based inspections involve a lot of threats since some living forms can only be found in deeper waters, and as a result, it is very challenging to collect data using divers in these environments. The divers wouldn't be able to handle the harsh aquatic conditions in deep water.

Furthermore, there must be an alternate method of monitoring these living forms, taking into account the security and well-being of biodiversity, habitats, and divers. Another important consideration that needs to be taken into account is the precision, excellence, and coverage of the data that has been gathered. These traditional techniques are typically intricate and time-consuming. The precise geographic location of these life forms must be known in order to preserve their habitat and biological variety.

Monitoring using ROVs

All underwater inspections can be done with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Real-time data may be collected, and deep-water navigation is made simple by ROVs. The ROV's HD cameras and lights aid in capturing high-quality images. Different sensors or payloads, including acoustic based imaging SONAR, side scan SONAR, and USBL (Ultra Short Baseline), can be coupled with ROVs to enable maximum data collection. Along with these payloads, safety guards and shields have been added to safeguard what is being examined and the ROV equipment.

Details of sensors or payloads used

Imaging SONAR

Imaging with SONAR helps capture acoustic images in turbid water conditions. This payload is really effective in cases where visibility is very poor. 

Side Scan SONAR

Side-scan sonar helps with the surface features of the seafloor or helps in seabed mapping

USBL

USBL is efficient in getting the exact geographical coordinates of the lifeforms spotted underwater. The visual data obtained from the camera output can be overlaid with these location coordinates.

In addition to added payloads, ROV can capture depth and temperature data of the underwater environment which is being inspected.

Methodology

The area that can be covered by an ROV survey is highly variable and will depend on a range of factors including other scheduled surveys, sampling windows, other operational requirements and the depth of the survey area. Depending on the aims of the survey, different types of search patterns may be utilised. If anchored or using a shot line for example (shallow water surveys only), more complex search patterns can be used. An umbilical cable or tether that allows for bi-directional communication ensures the ROV's connection to the surface. The pilot steers the vehicle with the aid of a command and control system. Additionally, this command has joysticks for tilting and rotating the cameras as well as adjusting the brightness. This command also controls the depth and direction of the ROV. The co-pilot facilitates the navigation manoeuvre since they are in charge of casting the sights on, interpreting, and instructing the pilot based on the Visuals. The control station will receive real-time visual and sonar data from the ROV.

Results and videos

The ROV can be used for underwater recording images and visuals, and the footage will display an enormous variety of different forms of biodiversity, fish populations, and coral reefs. The camera footage can be overlaid with information about the location, particularly geographical coordinates and temperature of the inspection areas or any other data as per user interest. The qualities and traits of the coral reef in that area can be understood from these recordings, and experts can also examine fish populations.