SurfRCaT: A tool for remote calibration of pre-existing coastal cameras to enable their use as quantitative coastal monitoring tools

Abstract

The Surf-camera Remote Calibration Tool (SurfRCaT) is a Python-based software application to calibrate and rectify images from pre-existing video cameras that are operating at coastal sites in the United States. The software enables remote camera calibration and subsequent image rectification by facilitating the remote-extraction of ground control points using airborne lidar observations, and guides the user through the entire process. No programming or code interaction are necessary to use the software. Calibration parameters and subsequent rectified image products derived from the software are saved locally. Users can apply SurfRCaT to any camera imagery that has stationary structures within the camera's field of view. Given current recreational camera infrastructure, SurfRCaT could increase the number of potential quantitative coastal video monitoring stations in the United States by an order of magnitude.