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

成像FlowCytobot（IFCB）的开发是为了识别和监测10 ~ 200微米范围内的浮游生物，这在沿海水华（包括有害藻华，HABs）中特别重要，并在海洋生态系统中发挥关键作用。IFCB使用流式细胞仪和视频技术的组合来自动捕获微观生物的图像。现有的IFCB仪器可以在无人值守的情况下在海洋中部署6-9个月，并已被用来制作具有前所未有的详细信息的固定位置浮游生物时间序列。由于这些研究是在流动的海洋中进行的，因此它们总是受到关于斑块和动态系统中空间变异性的问题的影响。该项目将推进IFCB技术，以开发可部署在各种车辆上的自动车辆版仪器（IFCB-AV），从而能够进行长时间和空间覆盖的高分辨率浮游生物研究。由于目前在适当的空间尺度上观测浮游植物的技术存在差距，获得共同使用的IFCB-AV（与车辆）将在广泛的水生研究领域推进知识。将直接受益于IFCB-AV的研究课题包括气候变化对美国沿海沃茨和北极浮游生物群落结构的影响、支持重要渔业的陆架断裂生态系统变异的原因、季节性浮游植物水华的调控以及墨西哥湾和缅因州湾有害藻类水华的早期检测。IFCB-AV技术应用的更广泛影响将从基础研究问题到对社会相关问题的管理和决策提供科学支持。IFCB现有的时间序列技术已经证明对缓解有害藻华事件是有效的，IFCB-AV将加强对这些问题的影响，并加强对其他环境管理应用的影响，如支持渔业问题的基于知识的综合生态系统评估。拟议的活动将改善培训基础设施和研究队伍的发展。随着IFCB-AV系统的共享使用，不同的受训人员将参与研究设计、现场操作和部署结果分析。该项目还将通过加强与海洋生态系统空间变异的规模和影响有关的内容来影响课堂教学。IFCB-AV将开发用于多种车辆，以适应不同的研究目标。设计、施工和评估将采用迭代过程。对水平定向的传统IFCB进行的基于验证的测试（如部署在小型车辆上所需）将指导长期部署所需的设计和操作修改。水中（拖曳）部署模式是首选的，因为它与各种各样的飞行器兼容，并简化了仪器温度控制和水取样。如果这种方法证明有问题，将重新设计仪器，以获得通过关键分析区域的垂直水流，但其余部件采用模块化布局。在这种情况下，仪器将安装在与一系列车身兼容的扁平盒子内。

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.