GPS diving computer for underwater tracking and mapping

摘要

Obtaining accurate and affordable geo-referencing is not straightforward for divers because there is a lack of through-water penetration by global positioning systems (GPS). Although a number of commercially available systems exist, few are low-cost or operationally flexible enough for use in scientific diving. The present paper details a new GPS diving computer that supports navigation and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) underwater. The unit displays the distance and heading information to set points and tracks the dive in three dimensions (position, depth and time). When downloaded, the tracked dive profile can be visualised in 3D in Google Earth. By synchronising the dive computer clock to external recording devices (for example, cameras), any recording event can be geo-referenced with attached data relating to GPS position, temperature and depth.