SGER: Modification and Testing of the Time Series - Submersible Incubation Device (TS-SID) on the Bermuda Test Bed Mooring

这项探索性研究（SGER）小额赠款将验证新开发的自主生物活性测量仪器。时间序列潜水孵育装置（TS-SID）是一种系泊兼容的自动化仪器，用于进行多种原位微生物孵育实验。每次孵育包括一个清洗周期，在深度处采购400毫升样品，同时引入示踪剂，并在孵育期间保存多达四对子样品，孵育长度由用户决定。为了验证性能和公布结果，需要在实际条件下进行测试。具体目标是：A)修改子样分配阀以防止泄漏，并建造一个系泊强度不锈钢保持架，以满足百慕大试验台系泊方案的技术要求。B)在浅水中进行孵育试验，以确认仪器功能正常，并建立用于试验台系泊研究的孵育方案。C)将仪器放置在百慕大试验台系泊处，进行自主初级生产测量。这种新仪器解决了减少关键生物测量与相关高分辨率物理和生物物理测量之间的时间差异的需要，并为研究微生物对环境变化的潜在生理反应提供了一种手段。由于大多数劳动密集型操作已实现自动化，因此有可能增加生物时间序列研究中的测量频率（每天多达几次测量），以直接量化季节性或偶发性物理现象对生物活动（如浮游植物初级生产）的影响。

9614160 Taylor This Small Grants for Exploratory Research (SGER) award will validate newly developed instrumentation for autonomous biological activity measurements. The Time Series - Submersible Incubation Device (TS-SID) is a mooring-compatible, automated instrument for performing multiple, in situ microbial incubation experiments. Each incubation involves a cleaning cycle, procurement of a 400 ml sample at depth with simultaneous introduction of tracer, and the preservation of up to four pairs of subsamples during incubations of user-determined length. Testing under real-world conditions is necessary to validate performance and permit publication of results. Specific goals are to: A) Modify the subsample distribution valve to prevent leaking and construct a mooring-strength stainless steel cage to meet the technical requirements of the Bermuda Test Bed Mooring program. B) Perform incubation tests in shallow water to confirm proper instrument functioning and establish the incubation protocol to be used in the Test Bed Mooring studies. C) Place the instrument on the Bermuda Test Bed Mooring to perform autonomous primary production measurements. This new instrumentation addresses the need to reduce the temporal disparity between key biological measurements, and correlative high resolution physical and biophysical measurements, as well as to provide a means for investigating underlying physiological response of microorganisms to changes in the environment. Because most of the labor intensive manipulations have been automated, it is possible to increase the frequency of measurements in biological time series studies (up to several measurements per day) for directly quantifying the effects of seasonal or episodic physical phenomena upon biological activities, such as phytoplankton primary production.