User manual

12 Science Manual – Using Video Images for Fisheries Monitoring
need more amps than your power source can supply over an acceptable period,
forget it! A summary of equipment power requirements is provided in Table 3.5.
Figure 3.2: Bank of leisure batteries powering video fish counting system
3.3 Lighting
The better the image, the more questions the data can answer (fish size, species
identification). The right lighting will make all the difference to image quality,
especially under turbid conditions, and will improve the performance of motion
detection or analysis software.
The lighting and camera configuration will depend on the dimensions and type of
pass, the information required from the counter (such as species, size), budget and
the availability of mains power. For example, the best camera and lighting array for
species identification is a sideways camera looking across a light panel on the bed of
the fish pass. However, this configuration will not work as well in turbid conditions as
a camera looking across to a light panel on the opposite wall. In all cases, it is
important to ensure that the quality of the light is good, that there is sufficient light but
not too much so as to cause the cameras to become over-saturated and that the
lighting is unlikely to affect fish movements.
Four suggested lighting options are:
• LIGHT PANELS (LED or fluorescent tube panels)
• LED ILLUMINATORS AND LAMPS
• FLOODLIGHTS
• FLUORESCENT TUBE LIGHTING