Epimegabenthos based on seafloor georeferenced mosaics of the Lofoten-Vesterålen canyon seeps

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 57 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Sen A, Sevin B, Kotliarov A, Hong W L, Szymczycha B, Diak M, Lepland A, Knies J (2025). Epimegabenthos based on seafloor georeferenced mosaics of the Lofoten-Vesterålen canyon seeps. Version 1.2. The University Centre in Svalbard. Occurrence dataset. https://ipt.gbif.no/resource?r=epiimegabenthos_lofoten-vesteralen_canyon_seeps&v=1.2

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is The University Centre in Svalbard. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 139818b8-f6de-446d-a4e0-32b98c83c0d5.  The University Centre in Svalbard publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Norway.

Keywords

Occurrence; Observation

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

Methane seep areas within two canyons on the continental slope off Lofoten-Vesterålen (northern Norway)

Project Data

No Description available

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Ægir from the research vessel Kronprins Haakon, video of the seafloor was recorded, maintaining an altitude of about 1-1.5 m. The HD video camera of the ROV was facing directly downwards (perpendicular to the seafloor) for the imaging process. Video acquisition was performed in a lawn-mower pattern, ensuring at least 25% overlap between adjacent lines. Images were extracted from the video every 3 seconds using the free software, ffmpeg. Navigation coordinates for each image were obtained from the ROV's track. These images were stitched together to create a single, composite georeferenced image (mosaic) of the seafloor. For this, structure-from-motion photogrammetry processing was conducted using Agisoft Metashape. Five digital models were constructed in total, each covering hundreds of m². The georeferenced mosaics were imported into ArcMap Desktop and all visible fauna were marked with the Editor tool. Individual organisms were marked as points (point feature class). Colonial or encrusting organisms were outlined to get areal coverages (polygon feature classes). Identification was done to lowest taxonomic level as possible, which was species in some cases, but often reliable identification was limited to higher levels such as genus or family and in certain cases, only phylum level.

Method step description:

1. Video imaging of the seafloor was conducted via the downward facing HD camera on the ROV. Overlap was maintained between adjacent video lines. Images were extracted from the video every three seconds and in combination with the corresponding navigation data for the images, a single, composite, georeferenced image (mosaic) was created via Agisoft's Metashape software. Five mosaics were generated. The mosaics were inputted into ArcMap Desktop and all visible features and fauna were marked and enumerated.

Additional Metadata