Publications

Gan, LB; Lin, F; Jin, QN; You, AJ; Hua, L (2024). An algorithm for measuring Secchi disk water transparency based on machine vision. MEASUREMENT, 231, 114581.

Abstract
Water transparency is traditionally assessed through visual inspection using a lowered Secchi disk (SD) into the water, with the disappearance depth of the SD recorded as the measure of transparency. However, manual and visually-dependent frequency measurements of the SD render this process labor-intensive and time-consuming. This paper presents a comprehensive machine-vision-based algorithm designed for the automatic computation of water transparency using Secchi disk videos. The algorithm leverages multiple deep neural networks, including an enhanced Siamese tracking model, a 3D-ResNet, and an improved GRU network. Trained models directly identify the SD in the video, calculating water transparency by processing pixel information. Experimental results demonstrate the algorithm's efficacy in estimating water transparency across diverse natural environments, achieving commendable accuracy (MAE = 3.6 cm MSE = 21.5 cm RMSE = 4.6 cm), rapid processing speed (average 6.87 s), and robust stability. In comparison with the former water-gauge-based algorithm, our proposed algorithm exhibits heightened efficiency and a superior detection success rate.

DOI:
10.1016/j.measurement.2024.114581

ISSN:
1873-412X