Advanced Technology for In-situ Acoustic Sensing of Zooplankton

生物海洋学的一个基本目标是了解海洋中生物的丰度和分布。尽管最新一代的海洋观测系统承诺比迄今可能的空间和时间采样率更高，但我们在现场感知海洋的能力肯定会得到提高，特别是在考虑毫米到厘米的动物时。声学技术有望实现这一目标，然而，当以传统方式使用时，只监测动物的后向散射幅度会受到许多模糊的影响。这项提议要求基金探索一种新的选择：从多个不同的角度感知反射的声音，以判断其大小和形状。多角度层析反演理论表明，这种方法具有成功的潜力。如果成功，该项目将为下一代声学传感器指明方向，比现有的传感器具有更高的特异性，并有助于弥合我们描述海洋种群特征的能力和我们的兴趣之间的差距。广泛的影响：这其中有一个很好的教育组成部分，包括高中生和他们的老师的研究经验以及课程开发。开发一种具有商业化途径的功能原型将对社区有利。这项技术可能会彻底改变我们远程评估海洋浮游动物的能力。一名研究生将接受声学理论和技术开发方面的培训，几名本科生将得到支持。

A basic goal of biological oceanography is to understand the abundance and distribution of organisms in the sea. Although the newest generation of ocean observing systems promise higher spatial and temporal sampling rates than heretofore possible, our capability to sense the ocean, in-situ, especially when considering animals of millimeter to centimeters could certainly be improved upon. Acoustic techniques hold promise for fulfilling this goal, however, when used in the traditional manner to monitor only animal backscatter amplitude suffer from many ambiguities. This proposal requests funds to explore a new option: Sensing the reflected sound from a number of different points of view in order to judge size and shape. The theory of tomographic inversion from multiple views suggests that this approach has potential to succeed. If successful, the project will point the way to a next generation of acoustic sensors with increased specificity over existing ones and help to bridge the gap between our ability to characterize marine populations and our interests.Broader Impacts:There is a nice educational component to this that includes research experiences for high school students and their teacher plus curriculum development. The development of a functional prototype with a path towards commercialization will be of benefit to the community. This technology could revolutionize our ability to remotely assess zooplankton in the ocean. One graduate student will be trained in acoustic theory and technology development and several undergraduate students will be supported.