MRI Development: Imaging FlowCytobot on Autonomous Vehicles for Plankton Research and Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation

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Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) was developed to identify and monitor plankton in the size range 10 ~ 200 microns, which can be especially important in coastal blooms (including harmful algal blooms, HABs) and play critical roles in marine ecosystems. IFCB uses a combination of flow cytometric and video technology to automatically capture images of microscopic organisms. Existing IFCB instruments can be deployed unattended in the ocean for 6-9 month duration and have been used to produce fixed location plankton time series with unprecedented detail. Because these studies take place in a fluid ocean, they are always subject to questions about spatial variability in a patchy and dynamic system. This project will advance IFCB technology to develop an autonomous vehicle-ready version of the instrument (IFCB-AV) that can be deployed on diverse vehicles to enable high resolution plankton studies with both long duration and spatial coverage. Because of the current gap in technology for observing phytoplankton at appropriate spatial scales, access to shared-use IFCB-AVs (with vehicles) will advance knowledge in a wide range of aquatic research areas. Research topics that will directly benefit from IFCB-AV include effects of climate change on plankton community structure in US coastal waters and the Arctic, causes of variability in shelf break ecosystems that support critical fisheries, regulation of seasonal phytoplankton blooms, and early detection of harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Maine. The broader impacts of applications of IFCB-AV technology will span from basic research problems to science-based support for management and decision making in societally relevant problems. The existing IFCB time series technology has already proven effective for mitigation of HAB events, and IFCB-AV will enhance impact for these problems, as well as to other environmental management applications, such as knowledge-based Integrated Ecosystem Assessments in support of problems in fisheries. The proposed activities will improve training infrastructure and development of the research workforce. As shared use of the IFCB-AV system proceeds, diverse trainees will be involved in study design, field operation, and analysis of results from deployments. The project will also influence classroom instruction by enhancing content related to scales and impacts of spatial variability in marine ecosystems. IFCB-AV will be developed for use with multiple vehicles to suit different research goals. An iterative process for design, construction, and evaluation will be employed. Laboratory-based tests with a conventional IFCB oriented horizontally (as required for deployment on small vehicles) will guide design and operational modifications needed for long-duration deployments. An in-water (towed) deployment mode is preferred for compatibility with a wide range of vehicles and to simplify instrument temperature control and water sampling. If this approach proves problematic, the instrument will be redesigned to obtain vertical water flow through the critical analysis region but with modular layout of the remaining components. In this case the instrument will fit within a flat box compatible with a range of vehicle hulls.