Abstract

Exploring the Sea floor with ROVs and AUVs
Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources
Authors: Alejandro Hinojosa

Deep sea explorations is a difficult endeavor, requiring to traverse a high pressure, dark and cold environment. Detailed bathymetry collected with multibeam sonars onboard research vessels and on Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (AUV), enable the planning of sea floor explorations using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV). During the exploration, the ROV collects , samples, physical parameters, video and photos, that can be associated to its 3D source position registered on the vehicles log. We present our experience of making a comprehensive synthesis of multiple hours of sea floor video and multimedia collected by an ROV during the exploration of the deep basins in Gulf of California and the transform faults that connect them. The 3D display of the ROV path and source position of multimedia over the detailed bathymetry helped the interpretation of the benthic communities and geomorphology by a multidisciplinary group.