High-Precision Three-dimensional Reconstruction of Deep-Sea Microtopography Based on Monocular Camera

Abstract

In the exploration of deep-sea mineral resources and detection of extreme environments, the use of optical cameras mounted on mobile underwater platforms to obtain optical image data of the seafloor now becomes an important method of deep-sea fine detection. To meet the demand for high-precision detection of deep-sea microtopography, the high-precision three-dimensional(3D) reconstruction method of deep-sea microtopography based on a monocular camera was studied. The monocular camera mounted on the underwater remotely operated vehicle acquired many images of the hydrate-rich areas in China waters. On this basis, the 3D seafloor models of the sand wave area, carbonate rock area, and cold spring area in the typical sea area were constructed using the structure from motion(SFM) method, and the topographic and geomorphological features and bio-ecological information were finely delineated. The results show that this method can provide important support for the exploration of deep-sea epigenetic mineral resources and the detection of extreme environments.

Keywords

• monocular camera
• 3d reconstruction
• structure from motion(sfm)
• deep-sea microtopography