3D-4-SEAC

A large majority of Mediterranean coastal species depend on or live within key habitats such as Posidonia meadows or coralligenous reefs, which are particularly vulnerable to coastal anthropogenic pressures and climate change.
The project uses high-resolution photogrammetry, an innovative imaging technique, to map these habitats and reconstruct photorealistic 3D models. The latter will enable us to monitor morphological changes and estimate the dynamics of abundance and size of fixed organisms.
The models obtained can be used for environmental studies, as well as to raise public awareness during “virtual dives”.

Some coastal ecosystems are of remarkable ecological importance, hosting a vast diversity of species for all or part of their existence. Today, however, they are under direct pressure from coastal human activities and climate change. In the Mediterranean Sea, these key habitats include Posidonia meadows, as well as coralligenous habitats and hermella beds. These biogenic underwater structures are the result of simultaneous construction and destruction by a wide variety of organisms. Monitoring the dynamics of the volume and morphology of these reefs is therefore a powerful indicator of the state of the living communities that make them up.

Unlike conventional surveys, structure-from-motion photogrammetry is a rapid, non-invasive, unbiased imaging technique that can effectively map the relief of these habitats. Like our 2 eyes, 2 synchronized cameras are used to capture stereoscopic images, which are then computer-processed to produce a high-resolution 3D model of the habitats explored by the diver.

The “3D-4-SEAC” (3D for SEA Conservation) project focuses on key habitats along the coast of Lazio and the Tuscan archipelago in Italy. It will provide a better understanding of the interactions between the topology of the sites and the biological communities that thrive there, and their fine-scale evolution – valuable data for the possible specific protection of these areas. In addition, the visualizations produced by the 3D models can be used as a cross-disciplinary tool for a wide range of research topics, as well as a means of raising public awareness through video “virtual dives”.