A New Video and Digital Camera System for Studies of the Dynamics of Microtopographic Features on Tidal Flats |
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Authors: | LARS CHRESTEN LUND-HANSEN EINER LARSEN KURT THOMAS JENSEN KIM N MOURITSEN CHRISTIAN CHRISTIANSEN THORBJØRN JOEST ANDERSEN |
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Institution: | 1. Marine Ecology , ?rhus, Denmark;2. Institute of Geography, University of Copenhagen , ?ster Copenhagen, Denmark |
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Abstract: | A newly developed video and camera system for tidal flat microtopographic studies is presented. It consists of a SONY handy cam placed in an underwater housing mounted on a frame about 70?cm above the sediment surface. A rectangular surface area of 30?×40?cm is imaged by the camera. The camera records video sequences and/or digital images at predetermined time lapses. The total number of images is about 540, and a similar number of 10-second long video sequences can be recorded. The camera is programmed with a PC before deployment, and the total deployment time depends on the time lapse between recordings. The camera is connected to an external power supply (12?volt), and a halogen projector pointing towards the sediment surface ensures that the system is operable on a 24-hours scale. The system has been tested in the Danish Wadden Sea. It has proved to be a very useful tool in studies of topographic effects of erosion and deposition sequences, and for studies of benthic organisms-sediment interactions. The test site was further equipped with sensors for water and seabed measurements, which proved to be indispensable regarding the interpretation of recorded image time-series. |
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Keywords: | digital imagery microtopography long-term measurements tidal flats |
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