SQUID-5 camera system
Science Center Objects
The SQUID-5 is a Structure-from-Motion Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras.
The SQUID-5 camera system on the boat deck, ready for deployment, and its computer monitor setup on board the boat.
Description
A towed surface vehicle with an onboard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and five downward-looking cameras with overlapping views of the seafloor. The cameras are tightly synchronized with both the GNSS and each other to collect photo sets simultaneously with their precise location at the instant of collection. Structure-from-Motion (SfM) software is then used to process the digital imagery and generate accurate bathymetric (sea bed elevation) data and co-registered orthomosaics of complex seafloor types such as coral reef and sand ripple fields located in relatively shallow water (2 – 9 meters) with good visibility. Because of high data density mapping is limited to small areas of several hundred square meters. The resulting data products have resolutions on the order of millimeters and can be used to measure mm-to-cm scale changes in the morphology and location of seafloor features over time.
Curious dolphins frolic near the SQUID-5 in the Florida Keys.
Specifications
- Manufacturer – Designed and built at the USGS PCMSC Marine Facility
- Model - SQUID-5 V1.1
- Weight - 52kg in air
- Dimensions – W 1.5 m, L 1.25 m, H 0.9 m
- Power Requirements 120 VAC – 240 VAC, total system consumption 300 watts max.
Operational Characteristics
- Minimum Operational Depth - limited by near focus to water depths deeper than 1 meter
- Maximum Operational Depth - limited by water clarity
- Limitations - maximum tow speed of 3 knots, sea state 1.5 meters or less, water depth & clarity limit acceptable areas of operation
- Power Outputs / Freq. Ranges – N/A, It is a passive camera system
- Ship’s Requirements - light lifting and towing capability, low speed maneuverability
Diagram of the SQUID-5 towed surface vehicle and the waterproof camera housings with labeled parts. Credit: Gerry Hatcher, USGS
Additional Equipment Required
A support vessel, a GNSS base station or GNSS reference network for post processing position data.
Complementary Systems
SwathPlus 468kHz Seafloor Mapping System
PCMSC Marine Facility (MarFac)
Learn about the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine Facility, or MarFac
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Date published: August 25, 2020Status: ActivePCMSC MarFac Field Equipment and Capabilities
Learn about the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center field equipment
Contacts: Timothy Elfers -
Date published: June 8, 2020Status: ActivePCMSC MarFac Team
Meet our team of fieldwork specialists at PCMSC's MarFac
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Date published: June 8, 2020Status: ActivePCMSC MarFac Vessels
The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center uses a wide variety of vessels, from kayaks to open-ocean ships, to conduct fieldwork. Most vessels are managed by our Marine Facility, or MarFac.
Accurate bathymetric maps from underwater digital imagery without ground control
Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry can be used with digital underwater photographs to generate high-resolution bathymetry and orthomosaics with millimeter-to-centimeter scale resolution at relatively low cost. Although these products are useful for assessing species diversity and health, they have additional utility for quantifying benthic...
Hatcher, Gerry; Warrick, Jonathan; Ritchie, Andrew C.; Dailey, Evan; Zawada, David G.; Kranenburg, Christine J.; Yates, Kimberly K.
SQUID-5 structure-from-motion point clouds, bathymetric maps, orthomosaics, and underwater photos of coral reefs in Florida, 2019
The new structure-from-motion (SfM) quantitative underwater imaging device with five cameras (SQUID-5) was tested in July 2019 at Crocker Reef in the Florida Keys. The SQUID-5 was developed to meet the unique challenges of collecting SfM underwater imagery, including multiple cameras with different perspectives, accurate geographic locations of images, accurate and precise scaling of derived...
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Date published: September 30, 2021Overlapping lakebed images and associated GNSS locations acquired near Dollar Point, Lake Tahoe, CA, March 2021
We collected underwater images using a recently developed towed-surface vehicle with multiple downward-looking underwater cameras. The system is named the Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with Five Cameras (SQUID-5). Images were collected March 10th and 11th of 2021 by towing the SQUID-5 at a speed of approximately 3.0 knots along a series of adjacent survey...
squid5-software
squid5-software was developed for and is used by the structure-from-motion (SfM) quantitative underwater imaging device with five cameras (SQUID-5) project.
SQUID-5 Towed Surface Vehicle
Diagram of the SQUID-5 towed surface vehicle and the waterproof camera housings with labeled components. The camera mounting mechanism aligns the camera axially with the dome and allows the camera to be adjusted fore and aft to accommodate various lens types and enable alignment with the glass port radius of curvature for minimal distortion.
SQUID-5 operations
The SQUID-5 camera system on the boat deck, ready for deployment, and its computer monitor setup on board the boat.
SQUID-5 in the water
The SQUID-5 is an acronym for a Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras. Developed by the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Marine
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