A remotely piloted submersible tested

In order to study in detail and testing the underwater area of Lake Baikal inaccessible for divers, a middle-sized remotely piloted machine was purchased; it allows making video survey and collecting samples in real time. This machine is destined for the work at the depth up to 200 m. During the test, standard handling units took a sample of a Baikal sponge from the depth of 120 m. Despite the evening time (17.00-18.00) and snow on the lake ice, the video cameras fixed penetration of sun light up to the depth of 67 m. It is planned further to improve different handling units able to collect and fix biological and geological samples. Besides “punctate” sampling, the machine will be used for total mapping of underwater vegetation landscapes in Lake Baikal with subsequent images interpretation using methods of neural network.