Image Analyses Tools for Quantitative Mensuration and Classification of High Resolution Optical Imagery

As part of the ongoing collaboration between the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the PIFSC and the NWFSC we have developed an AUV for conducting high resolution optical imaging surveys. This platform is now routinely collecting thousands of images per dive. This proposal is a first attempt to standardize and develop the tools required to deal with such datasets within the constraints and requirements of the end users. This effort is aimed at building up a set of common tools to aid the end users in their analysis. We will aim to provide a web-based system that runs on the Linux and Windows operating platforms that provides a mechanism for users to examine, annotate, and make measurements of a series of images. To the extent possible, we will seek to automate some of these processes (such as the classification of habitat in particular imagery) but with the overall philosophy that the end user can either accept, correct, or override the results of the automated processes.