CTD Camera images - collected from the TEMPO voyage of the RV Investigator IN2021_V01

This dataset contains raw seafloor images and associated metadata collected during the 2021 TEMPO voyage in the East Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean as part of the Marine National Facility RV Investigator research voyage IN2021_V01. The voyage took place from Hobart, Tasmania, to Hobart between 29 January and 24 March 2021 (AEST) under the TEMPO (Trends in Euphausiids off Mawson, Predators, and Oceanography) program.

Most krill research has traditionally focused on the epipelagic zone (surface to ~250 m), although recent observations suggest that krill may also inhabit abyssal environments. To investigate this, a deep-sea camera was mounted to the CTD rosette to observe krill activity near the seafloor during full-depth CTD deployments conducted throughout the voyage.

Seafloor imagery was collected during every full-depth CTD deployment. Images were captured using a Canon HFG10 camera mounted to the CTD frame. The camera and lighting system were activated approximately 25 m above the seafloor during the CTD descent, and still images were recorded every 10 seconds with the focus initially set to infinity. The CTD was then lowered to approximately 3–5 m above the seabed, and after two minutes the focus was adjusted to 1 m.

For each CTD deployment, the highest-quality image(s) have been included in this dataset. Although the vessel remained as stationary as possible during deployments, natural ship movement and motion in the CTD cable caused the camera to capture slightly different sections of the seabed over time.

Identification info

Date

Point of contact

Role	Organisation	Electronic mail address
Custodian	Leonie Suter (Australian Antarctic Divison)	leonie.suter@aad.gov.au
Point of contact	CSIRO NCMI - Information and Data Centre	data-requests-hf@csiro.au