PlasPI marine cameras: Open-source, affordable camera systems for time series marine studies
Autun Purser,
Ulrich Hoge,
Johannes Lemburg,
Yasemin Bodur,
Elena Schiller,
Janine Ludszuweit,
Jens Greinert,
Simon Dreutter,
Boris Dorschel,
Frank Wenzhöfer
Affiliations
Autun Purser
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany; Corresponding author.
Ulrich Hoge
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Johannes Lemburg
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Yasemin Bodur
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and Ecology, Bremen, Germany; Department of Arctic Marine Biology, UiT – the Arctic University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
Elena Schiller
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Janine Ludszuweit
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Jens Greinert
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany; GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Simon Dreutter
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Boris Dorschel
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
Frank Wenzhöfer
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and Ecology, Bremen, Germany
Imaging underwater can be particularly problematic and expensive given the harsh environmental conditions posed by salinity and for some deployments, pressure. To counter these difficulties, expensive waterproof pressure resistant housings are often used, commonly built from expensive materials such as titanium, if intended for long duration deployments. Further, environmental investigations often benefit from replicate data collection, which additionally increases study costs.In this paper we present a new camera system, developed with off the shelf and 3D printed cost effective components for use in shallow waters of <150 m depth. Integrating Raspberry Pi Zero W microcomputers with open source design files and software, it is hoped these camera systems will be of interest to the global marine and freshwater research communities.
