Expedition NA005 in the Eastern Aegean represents a continuation and expansion of work in 2008-2009 by the Institute for Exploration using a combination of technologies including ROV vehicles on Nautilus. Growing from previous seasons of testing, this mission expanded the imaging toolkit to include a new photomosaic processing system developed by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney. The expedition tested these technologies by imaging underwater cultural heritage sites. The expedition also served as a field school for oceanographic imaging techniques for undergraduate and graduate students in marine geology, ocean engineering, computer science, and nautical archaeology.
The team completed a variety of maps of known and newly discovered sites near the Bodrum and Datcha peninsulas. The dark, clear water at the deeper wrecks (below 200 m) allowed limited use of our experimental structured light (green laser) artifact imaging, and the team also employed the new photo mosaicing system at several sites. Though full processing of the structured light, multibeam, and photomosaic data will take considerable time, preliminary mosaics and structured light maps processed onboard were very successful. Thirteen ROV and tow-fish dives were conducted during NA005, with depths ranging from 31.5 to 400 m.
