Toward omnidirectional and automated imaging system for measuring oceanic whitecap coverage

Accurate measurements of oceanic whitecap coverage from whitecap images are required for better understanding air-gas transfer and aerosol production processes. However, this is a challenging task because whitecap patches are formed immediately after a wave breaks and are spread over a wide area. The main challenges in designing whitecaps imaging instrument are the small field of view of the camera lens, processing huge numbers of images, recording data over long time periods, and deployment difficulties in stormy conditions. This paper describes the hardware design of a novel high-resolution optical instrument for imaging oceanic whitecaps and the automated algorithm processing the collected images. The instrument was successfully deployed in 2013 as part of the HiWINGS campaign in the North Atlantic Ocean. The instrument uses a fish-eye camera lens to image the whitecaps in a wide angle of view (180°).