Video plankton recorder

Last updated

A video plankton recorder (VPR) is towed underwater video microscope system, which photographs small to fine-scale structure of plankton, from 50 micrometers and up to a few centimeters in size. [1] [2] A VPR consists of five general components: cameras (with magnifying optics [3] ), strobe, additive sensor and flight control, underwater platform and interface software for plankton identification. [4]

Contents

Technical aspects

In order to obtain high-quality and low-noise images, charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors are used in the camera system. In the early design system, the CCD cameras were mounted in one of the arm of the platform. The developments in the recent years made the cameras system possible to be mounted in the platform body along with other sensors and flight control. The magnification power on the cameras should be vary, with high magnification power on the camera, we can obtain detail observation result on the plankton sample, such as protozoan that has <1 μm resolution . In other hand, the high magnification is able to identify plankton into genus level while low magnification of the camera will provide the rare and larger taxa.

The xenon strobe (red-filtered 80 W) provides the VPR systems with the Lighting to support the work of the video camera. It is placed in the other side of the platform arm. This design is intended to provide the area between camera and strobe as undisturbed water volume for continuous observation in the VPR system.

As a complex system, VPR can also carry several oceanographic sensors in the same time such as, CTD, transmissometer, fluorometer and flowmeter. These sensors enable the system to measure temperature, conductivity, depth, flow measurement, fraction of light in the water and the fluorescence.

The housing or platforms for this instrument is varying depend on the purpose of the survey. These are the particular platform that has been tested and used to mount the VPR:

  1. Towed device
  2. Remotely operated underwater vehicle(ROV)
  3. Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)
  4. Autonomous profiling mooring

The improvements of imaging system to observe, calculate and measure plankton in the ocean enable the detail observation on the specific plankton community. This early development was conducted by enumerating and counting the silhouette photography of plankton, the result then is processed with software package such as Matlab. [5]

Imaging software

The most important part in VPR is the plankton identification software. Any developments of the software should improve the required task performed by VPR. In a nutshell, the software should have the ability of:

  1. Importing the plankton images database in to the system.
  2. Validate the object and evaluate from the background of the sample. This qualification should include the capability of the software to discriminate unknown object from plankton.
  3. Identify and classify the samples therefore plankton can be distinguished from each other.
  4. Presenting the result in the form of; abundance, size of distribution and biomass.

Observation result

The study conducted by Benfield, M.C., et al. has discovered that VPR provided comparable data on the taxonomic composition of the plankton compared to physical plankton survey taken by MOCNESS.

The figure in the right side shows us the general trends in abundance and detail scale patchiness along the observation area.

Advantage and Disadvantages

Although a VPR has a drawback for not being able to identify plankton into species level, the advantages to use this instrument has gone beyond its limitation to provide us with convenient and accurate result. The high resolution result on plankton taxa observation along with synchronized measurement environmental variables from another oceanographic sensor attached in VPR body can be considered as the milestone of this device. In addition, since the observation is conducted visually by photographing the sample, the observation of delicate plankton and gelatinous species can be done accurately without having them destroyed in the net.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charge-coupled device</span> Device for the movement of electrical charge

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a major technology used in digital imaging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EcoSCOPE</span>

The ecoSCOPE is an optical sensor system, deployed from a small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) or fibre optic cable, to investigate behavior and microdistribution of small organisms in the ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remotely operated underwater vehicle</span> A tethered underwater mobile device operated by a remote crew

A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is a free-swimming submersible craft used to perform underwater observation, inspection and physical tasks such as valve operations, hydraulic functions and other general tasks within the subsea oil and gas industry, military, scientific and other applications. ROVs can also carry tooling packages for undertaking specific tasks such as pull-in and connection of flexible flowlines and umbilicals, and component replacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video camera</span> Camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition

A video camera is an optical instrument that captures videos, as opposed to a movie camera, which records images on film. Video cameras were initially developed for the television industry but have since become widely used for a variety of other purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data logger</span> Recording device

A data logger is an electronic device that records data over time or about location either with a built-in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they are based on a digital processor, and called digital data loggers (DDL). They generally are small, battery-powered, portable, and equipped with a microprocessor, internal memory for data storage, and sensors. Some data loggers interface with a personal computer and use software to activate the data logger and view and analyze the collected data, while others have a local interface device and can be used as a stand-alone device.

A spectroradiometer is a light measurement tool that is able to measure both the wavelength and amplitude of the light emitted from a light source. Spectrometers discriminate the wavelength based on the position the light hits at the detector array allowing the full spectrum to be obtained with a single acquisition. Most spectrometers have a base measurement of counts which is the un-calibrated reading and is thus impacted by the sensitivity of the detector to each wavelength. By applying a calibration, the spectrometer is then able to provide measurements of spectral irradiance, spectral radiance and/or spectral flux. This data is also then used with built in or PC software and numerous algorithms to provide readings or Irradiance (W/cm2), Illuminance, Radiance (W/sr), Luminance (cd), Flux, Chromaticity, Color Temperature, Peak and Dominant Wavelength. Some more complex spectrometer software packages also allow calculation of PAR μmol/m2/s, Metamerism, and candela calculations based on distance and include features like 2- and 20-degree observer, baseline overlay comparisons, transmission and reflectance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater glider</span> Type of autonomous underwater vehicle

An underwater glider is a type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that employs variable-buoyancy propulsion instead of traditional propellers or thrusters. It employs variable buoyancy in a similar way to a profiling float, but unlike a float, which can move only up and down, an underwater glider is fitted with hydrofoils that allow it to glide forward while descending through the water. At a certain depth, the glider switches to positive buoyancy to climb back up and forward, and the cycle is then repeated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Spiess</span> American marine biologist

Dr. Fred Noel Spiess was a naval officer, oceanographer and marine explorer. His work created new advances in marine technology including the FLIP Floating Instrument Platform, the Deep Tow vehicle for study of the seafloor, and the use of acoustics for underwater navigation and geodetic positioning.

The Intel Play product line, developed and jointly marketed by Intel and Mattel, was a product line of consumer "toy" electronic devices. The other toys were the Digital Movie Creator, the Computer Sound Morpher, and the Me2Cam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital microscope</span>

A digital microscope is a variation of a traditional optical microscope that uses optics and a digital camera to output an image to a monitor, sometimes by means of software running on a computer. A digital microscope often has its own in-built LED light source, and differs from an optical microscope in that there is no provision to observe the sample directly through an eyepiece. Since the image is focused on the digital circuit, the entire system is designed for the monitor image. The optics for the human eye are omitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continuous Plankton Recorder</span> Marine biology monitoring programming

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey is one of the longest running marine biological monitoring programmes in the world. Started in 1931 by Sir Alister Hardy and Sir Cyril Lucas, the Survey provides marine scientists and policy-makers with measures of plankton communities, coupled with ocean physical, biological and chemical observations, on a pan-oceanic scale. The Survey is a globally recognised leader on the impacts of environmental change on the health of our oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey</span> Plankton community monitoring project in Australias oceans

The Australian Continuous Plankton Recorder (AusCPR) survey is a joint project of the CSIRO and the Australian Antarctic Division, DEWHA, to monitor plankton communities as a guide to the health of Australia's oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCAR Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey</span>

The SCARSouthern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder (SO-CPR) Survey was established in 1991 by the Australian Antarctic Division,of Environment, Water Heritage and the Arts, to map the spatial-temporal patterns of zooplankton and then to use the sensitivity of plankton to environmental change as early warning indicators of the health of the Southern Ocean. It also serves as reference for other Southern Ocean and Antarctic monitoring programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benthic lander</span> Platform for measurements on the seabed

A benthic lander is an autonomous observational platform that sits on the seabed or benthic zone to record physical, chemical or biological activity.

The Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program is a long-term oceanographic study based at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 2015, the American Society for Microbiology designated the HOT Program's field site Station ALOHA a "Milestone in Microbiology", for playing "a key role in defining the discipline of microbial oceanography and educating the public about the vital role of marine microbes in global ecosystems."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabled observatory</span> Seabed oceanographic research platforms connected to the surface by undersea cables

A cabled observatory is a seabed oceanographic research platform connected to land by cables that provide power and communication. Observatories are outfitted with a multitude of scientific instruments that can collect many kinds of data from the seafloor and water column. By removing the limitations of undersea power sources and sonar or RF communications, cabled observatories allow persistent study of underwater phenomena. Data from these instruments is relayed to a land station and data networks, such as Ocean Networks Canada, in real time.

EV <i>Nautilus</i> Research vessel

EVNautilus is a 68-meter (223 ft) research vessel owned by the Ocean Exploration Trust under the direction of Robert Ballard, the researcher known for finding the wreck of the Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck. The vessel's home port is at the AltaSea facility in San Pedro in the Port of Los Angeles, California. Nautilus is equipped with a team of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), Hercules, Argus, Little Hercules, and Atalanta, a multibeam mapping system, and mapping tools Diana and Echo, allowing it to conduct deep sea exploration of the ocean to a depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 ft).

JS <i>Shōnan</i> Shōnan-class oceanographic research ship of JMSDF

JS Shōnan (AGS-5106) is the only ship of her type of oceanographic research ship for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater survey</span> Inspection or measurement in or of an underwater environment

An underwater survey is a survey performed in an underwater environment or conducted remotely on an underwater object or region. Survey can have several meanings. The word originates in Medieval Latin with meanings of looking over and detailed study of a subject. One meaning is the accurate measurement of a geographical region, usually with the intention of plotting the positions of features as a scale map of the region. This meaning is often used in scientific contexts, and also in civil engineering and mineral extraction. Another meaning, often used in a civil, structural, or marine engineering context, is the inspection of a structure or vessel to compare actual condition with the specified nominal condition, usually with the purpose of reporting on the actual condition and compliance with, or deviations from, the nominal condition, for quality control, damage assessment, valuation, insurance, maintenance, and similar purposes. In other contexts it can mean inspection of a region to establish presence and distribution of specified content, such as living organisms, either to establish a baseline, or to compare with a baseline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underwater exploration</span> Investigating or traveling around underwater for the purpose of discovery

Underwater exploration is the exploration of any underwater environment, either by direct observation by the explorer, or by remote observation and measurement under the direction of the investigators. Systematic, targeted exploration is the most effective method to increase understanding of the ocean and other underwater regions, so they can be effectively managed, conserved, regulated, and their resources discovered, accessed, and used. Less than 10% of the ocean has been mapped in any detail, less has been visually observed, and the total diversity of life and distribution of populations is similarly obscure.

References

  1. ↑ Benfield, M.C., et al Video Plankton Recorder estimates of copepod, Pteropod and larvacean distributions from a stratified region of Georges Bank with comparative measurements from a MOCNESS sampler. Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 1996. 43(7-8): p. 1925-1945
  2. ↑ Anonymous. Video Plankton Recorder (VPR). 2010 [cited 2010 10/25/2010]; Available from: http://www.whoi.edu/instruments/viewInstrument.do?id=1007#1034.
  3. ↑ Cabell, D. and G. Scott. The Video Plankton Recorder. 1993; 3:[Available from:
  4. ↑ Davis, C.S., et al., A three-axis fast-tow digital video plankton recorder for rapid surveys of plankton taxa and hydrography. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, 2005. 3(FEB.): p. 59-74.
  5. ↑ Benfield, M.C., et al., RAPID Research on Automated Plankton Identification. Oceanography, 2007. 20(2): p. 172-187.

Source of Picture Gallery

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.