A University of Delaware (UD; Newark, DE, USA) research team led by Chandra Kambhamettu, professor of computer and information sciences, has developed a 3-D camera to map the surface topography of Arctic sea ice.

The effort is part of a collaborative National Science Foundation project involving scientists at UD, the University of Virginia and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to assess the habitat of walruses that use sea ice as a reproductive, migration and resting habitat.

University of Delaware doctoral students Scott Sorensen Rohith Kumar designed the camera in UD's Video/Imaging Modeling and Synthesis (VIMS) laboratory. Sorensen then installed the stereo camera aboard the German research vessel Polarstern in October to continuously capture images of the sea ice during a two-month expedition. The team is now using the raw data to reconstruct polar ice floes in 3-D.

Kambhamettu is in talks with UD's Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP) to patent the technology and protect his team's research. He is also investigating licensing the system for industrial use.

More information on the system is available here. Professor Kambhamettu explains the system in more detail on a YouTube video here.

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-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design