Preliminary Design of an Underwater Multispectral Imaging System for Monitoring Eelgrass Health

Eelgrass plays an essential role in underwater bio-diversity and ecosystems, responsible for sediment stabilization, upholding local fisheries, and supporting the carbon cycle. In recent decades, eelgrass meadows along the coast of Maine have been under stress and in decline. There is a growing need for efficient and cost-effective systems to monitor eelgrass health. These systems could aid in better understanding how human activity and a changing climate are affecting eelgrass, and subsequently support conservation efforts to mitigate damage. Regularly collecting data on the spatial extent and health of eelgrass could help identify stressors and support conservation efforts. The focus of this project is the development of a low-cost, deployable underwater camera system that is tunable for monitoring a variety of eelgrass ecosystems. The camera system uses a Raspberry Pi 4 and an Arducam CamArray HAT Kit and operates on four tunable wavelengths to capture key indicators of seagrass health. It is housed in a waterproof capsule designed for a variety of environmental conditions. Key design requirements of the enclosure include heat dissipation, stability of the camera mounting for underwater and turbulent applications, and the use of durable materials that can withstand use in marine environments. Verification of the design focused on analysis that the system met specified requirements, including the performance under water pressure and heat generated by the camera components. Future validation efforts will focus on assessing image quality and the ability to identify meaningful markers of eelgrass health. The long-term goal of the project is to support more effective eelgrass conservation through scalable and affordable monitoring systems.