Great Barrier Reef Photogrammetry - ASDC Driver Use case
Implementing an open source capability to stitch together and share underwater photogrammetry models of the coral within the Great Barrier Reef will provide a next generation resource to Australia’s researchers for coral reef research.
As work on the Australian Scalable Drone Cloud (ASDC) continues, our team is focusing on implementing 5 driver use cases to inform development priorities. This ensures the ultimate product is as fit for purpose for Australian researchers as possible.
The ASDC have recently commenced work on the delivery of a use case from the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s (AIMS) tropical marine research agency. Based on work conducted by Manuel Gonzalez Rivero, Peran Bray, Michelle Jonker, and Renata Ferrari, this use case looks at generating 3D habitat reconstructions of benthic communities using drones and underwater cameras to serve as the foundation for reef monitoring efforts.
Drone data provides key benefits over satellite data when monitoring reef conditions.
The resolution of satellite imagery is not sufficient for investigating high profile reef issues such as coral bleaching, major damage from cyclones and coral biodiversity, drones data capture on the other hand, are more responsive to favourable weather conditions and not limited by the need for clear skies.
By providing a common-good platform for people to share stitched drone footage with each other, Australia’s marine researchers could contribute to a shared platform when they have a drone dataset that could make an impact to others. This will enable them to better target their research.
Open source data processing and analysis capability benefits all
Photogrammetry modelling tools are very expensive and out of reach of small establishments. Implementing an open source capability to stitch together and share underwater photogrammetry models of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral reefs will provide a next generation resource to Australia’s researchers for coral reef research.
Climate change is making it more important than ever to take high resolution records of the state of our coral reefs, including its health, biodiversity, structure, and so on. This requires a more comprehensive data collection technique and 2.5D photogrammetry maps offer a way to do this.
The ASDC could be the first initiative in Australia to bridge the divide between the underwater photogrammetry community with the aerial photogrammetry community, creating whole-of-Australia maps where researchers and the community can fly under the lakes and oceans and see what lies below. This will bring the reef to the world, in a COVID-constrained world where the world can no longer come to the reef.
Implementing an open source capability within the ASDC to stitch together coral reef images from aerial drones will broaden Australia’s scientific capability to establish higher resolution aerial maps from accessible low-altitude commercial-of-the-shelf platforms. Work such as this could be the start of a nation-wide, shareable archive of the status of our reefs over time that could then be fed into tools built within the platform to play-back changes over time, or provide a ground truth starting point for scientists across the country to design their in-field surveys from.
We’d like to hear from you
If you would like to know more about how the ASDC platform might accelerate your next drone data capture project, please email us at info@asdc.science, or help us learn more about what you would like to achieve by filing in this form.
References
Gonzalez Rivero. M, Bray. P, Jonker. M, Ferrari. R (2020) 3D habitat reconstructions of benthic communities. Long-Term Monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef. Standard Operational Procedure 12. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville. (33 pp) https://doi.org/10.25845/m1f0-p935
González-Rivero, Manuel, Beijbom, Oscar, Rodriguez-Ramirez, Alberto, Bryant, Dominic E.P., Ganase, Anjani, Gonzalez-Marrero, Yeray, Herrera-Reveles, Ana, Kennedy, Emma V., Kim, Catherine J.S., Lopez-Marcano, Sebastian, Markey, Kathryn, Neal, Benjamin P., Osborne, Kate, Reyes-Nivia, Catalina, Sampayo, Eugenia M., Stolberg, Kristin, Taylor, Abbie, Vercelloni, Julie, Wyatt, Mathew, & Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove (2020) Monitoring of coral reefs using artificial intelligence: A feasible and cost-effective approach. Remote Sensing, 12(3), Article number: 489.
