Lilian Boehringer
Boehringer
Lilian
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven
AWI
Kerstin Jerosch
Jerosch
Kerstin
Ulrich Hoge
Hoge
Ulrich
Karsten Schimpf
Schimpf
Karsten
Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) seafloor images and videos of the western Weddell Sea collected during RV POLARSTERN cruise PS153
PANGAEA
Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science
dataset publication series
During the RV POLARSTERN cruise PS153 (2026-02-06 to 2026-04-09) to the western Weddell Sea, as part of the SWOS (Summer Weddell Outflow Study) project, the Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) was used to collect still images and video footage from various locations surveyed during the expedition. The OFOBS consisted of a towed underwater camera system equipped with a high-resolution photo-camera (iSiTEC, CANON EOS 5D Mark III) and a high-definition video-camera (iSiTEC, Sony FCB-H11) as well as an integrated sidescan sonar system. The cameras were mounted on a steel frame (140 L x 92 W x 135 H cm), together with two strobe lights (iSiTEC UW-Blitz 250, TTL driven), three laser pointers spaced with a distance of 50 cm used to estimate the size of seafloor structures, four LED lights, and a USBL positioning system (Posidonia) to track the position of the OFOBS during deployments, with additional positioning information provided by the integrated INS and DVL systems. For some deployments, the OFOBS was additionally equipped with an automated eDNA sampler (RoCSI), 2 NISKIN bottles, and a CTD. An automatic seafloor image was taken every 20 seconds to obtain 'TIMER' stills distributed at regular distances along each of the survey profiles. Additional 'MANUAL' photos were triggered individually when interesting objects appeared in the live feed. In total, 26 OFOBS deployments were carried out. If no positions for the OFOBS were available, the ships position was used instead. Metadata in the form of iFDOs are available for each deployment containing a detailed description of the image and video data collection and curation process.
Timm Schoening
Schoening
Timm
Jennifer M Durden
Durden
Jennifer M
Claas Faber
Faber
Claas
Janine Felden
Felden
Janine
Karl Heger
Heger
Karl
Henk-Jan T Hoving
Hoving
Henk-Jan T
Rainer Kiko
Kiko
Rainer
Kevin Köser
Köser
Kevin
Christopher Krämmer
Krämmer
Christopher
Tom Kwasnitschka
Kwasnitschka
Tom
Klas Ove Möller
Möller
Klas Ove
David Nakath
Nakath
David
Andrea Naß
Naß
Andrea
Tim W Nattkemper
Nattkemper
Tim W
Autun Purser
Purser
Autun
M Zurowietz
Zurowietz
Making marine image data FAIR
Scientific Data
journal article
datasets
Benthic ecology; Benthos; iFDO; Seafloor images; Weddell Sea
access rights needed
application/zip