1ba97e4b-efb7-460b-9f2d-90437e33ce09 eng utf8 dataset dataset NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre +44 (0)1223 221400 British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0ET United Kingdom polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk https://www.bas.ac.uk/team/business-teams/information-services/uk-polar-data-centre/ information pointOfContact 2025-06-06 ISO 19115 Geographic Information - Metadata ISO 19115:2003(E) European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) Geodetic Parameter Registry 2008-11-12 publication European Petroleum Survey Group EPSGadministrator@iogp.org https://www.epsg-registry.org/ EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset The EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset is a structured dataset of Coordinate Reference Systems and Coordinate Transformations, accessible through this online registry. information publisher urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::3031 6.18.3 The Weddell Sea Benthic Dataset: A computer vision-ready object detection dataset for in situ benthic biodiversity monitoring model development 2025-06-06 creation 2025-06-06 revision 2025-06-06 publication 2025-06-06 released 1.0 https://doi.org/10.5285/1ba97e4b-efb7-460b-9f2d-90437e33ce09 doi GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02069 https://data.bas.ac.uk/ Please cite this item as: Trotter, C., Griffiths, H.J., Khan, T.M., Purser, A., & Whittle, R.J. (2025). The Weddell Sea Benthic Dataset: A computer vision-ready object detection dataset for in situ benthic biodiversity monitoring model development (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/1ba97e4b-efb7-460b-9f2d-90437e33ce09 We present the Weddell Sea Benthic Dataset (WSBD), a computer vision-ready collection of high-resolution seafloor imagery and corresponding annotations designed to support automated analysis of Antarctic benthic communities. The dataset comprises 100 top-down images captured during RV Polarstern Expedition PS118 (cruises 69-1 and 69-6) in 2019, using the Ocean Floor Observation and Bathymetry System (OFOBS) in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica. A subset of this imagery was manually annotated by ecologists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) to support ecological analyses, including benthic community composition and species interaction studies. These annotations were subsequently standardised into 25 morphotypes to serve as class labels for object detection tasks. Bounding box annotations are provided in COCO format, alongside the training, validation, and test splits used during model development at BAS. This dataset provides a benchmark for developing and evaluating machine learning models aimed at enhancing biodiversity monitoring in Antarctic benthic environments. This work was funded by the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship MR/W01002X/1 'The past, present and future of unique cold-water benthic (sea floor) ecosystems in the Southern Ocean' awarded to Rowan Whittle. No credit. completed Trotter, Cameron British Antarctic Survey Researcher author Griffiths, Huw J. British Antarctic Survey Researcher author Khan, Tasnuva M. British Antarctic Survey Researcher author Purser, Autun Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Polar- und Meeresforschung Researcher author Whittle, Rowan J. British Antarctic Survey Researcher author NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre +44 (0)1223 221400 British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0ET United Kingdom PDCServiceDesk@bas.ac.uk https://www.bas.ac.uk/team/business-teams/information-services/uk-polar-data-centre/ information pointOfContact asNeeded completed EARTH SCIENCE > Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Biodiversity EARTH SCIENCE > Oceans > Marine Environment Monitoring theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords 2026-01-27 publication 23 Global Change Data Center, Science and Exploration Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Greenbelt MD United States of America https://earthdata.nasa.gov/about/gcmd/global-change-master-directory-gcmd-keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Keywords The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. information publisher Benthos biodiversity monitoring computer vision deep learning marine ecology theme Weddell Sea, Powell Basin Southern Ocean place Habitats and biotopes Oceanographic geographical features theme GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2021-01-06 revision otherRestrictions no limitations to public access otherRestrictions no limitations license Open Government Licence v3.0 otherRestrictions Data are supplied under Open Government Licence v3.0 otherRestrictions None doi doi crossReference url url largerWorkCitation url url crossReference doi doi crossReference doi doi crossReference doi doi crossReference doi doi crossReference url url dependency textTable eng utf8 biota environment oceans -57.81626 -50.99663 -64.93935 -61.19232 2019-02-01 2019-04-30 It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data, and that the author be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, please report them to polardatacentre@bas.ac.uk. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre +44 (0)1223 221400 British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 0ET United Kingdom PDCServiceDesk@bas.ac.uk https://www.bas.ac.uk/team/business-teams/information-services/uk-polar-data-centre/ information distributor application/json image/jpeg bytes 139460608 http://ramadda.data.bas.ac.uk/repository/entry/show?entryid=1ba97e4b-efb7-460b-9f2d-90437e33ce09 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Get Data Download data download bytes 139460608 http://ramadda.data.bas.ac.uk/repository/entry/show?entryid=1ba97e4b-efb7-460b-9f2d-90437e33ce09 WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link Get Data Download data download dataset Methodology: Data was collected as part of expedition PS118, cruises 69-1 and 6-9, of the RV Polarstern in 2019 [1] using the OFOBS [2] and manually labelled for use in benthic community analysis [3]. These labels were then condensed into 25 morphotypes, with annotations converted to COCO-formatted bounding boxes, for use in object detection model development. Data was split into training, validation, and test sets based on substrate, depth, seafloor inclination. Imagery in this dataset is a subset of imagery collected during the expedition PS118 [1], available on PANGEA [2]. Dataset annotations are a subset of those present in [4] for use in benthic community analysis [3]. This dataset was used for the development of an object detection model capable of automated benthic organism detection [in-prep]. For model weights, see Related URLs. Some original source images [4] were not comprehensively annotated, e.g. due to distortion. For use in object detection model training, the unlabelled regions were cropped, resulting in images of varying dimensions (average size = 3,364×4,545px). Data collection: Data was collected using the OFOBS, a top-down towed camera system. Original labelling for benthic community analysis was performed in Inkscape v1.1. Resulting SVG files were then converted using a custom script file to JPGs with corresponding COCO bounding box JSON using Python v3.12.8. Converted bounding boxes were then manually edited (resized etc) using LabelMe v5.8.1, then converted back to COCO format. Data quality: All bounding boxes were manually checked after conversion from SVG format. Class labels have been reviewed by ecologists at BAS for accuracy. Given the high densities of organisms in the dataset, the prevalence of small-bodied taxa, and the well documented issues of fatigue and subjectivity in manual annotation processes for benthic imagery, it is likely some valid organisms were omitted from the ground truth. asNeeded completed