SeaScribe: An annotation software for Remotely Operated Vehicle dive operations

The Digital Infrastructure group at Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is in charge of the development and maintenance of the organization's Data Management and Archiving System (DMAS). The group has been successful in creating a software system that acquires data from large sensor networks, archives them and makes them available to a multidisciplinary community of scientists, the public, government and non-governmental agencies. DMAS also includes tools to manage the underwater infrastructure and the data flow. This paper introduces the latest development, SeaScribe, which is an annotation system for Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dive operations. During ONC undersea installation and maintenance efforts for the NEPTUNE Canada and VENUS observatories, an ROV performs most operations - platform deployments and recoveries, cable lays and connections, scientific sampling and surveys. There is a need to meticulously document these dive operations, as well as observed organisms and seafloor characteristics.