Collaborative Research: Automated observations of phytoplankton communities from open water moorings

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Phytoplankton are a diverse group of microscopic organism living near the ocean surface. They play essential role in marine food webs and global biogeochemical cycles. The Imaging FlowCytobot(IFCB) has been used for a number of years but because of the high power requirements deployment has been limited to these types of nearshore sites with power and internet connection. This EAGER proposal will test deploy the Imaging FlowCytobot on an open ocean mooring.The ability to determine the composition and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton communities is important but traditional methods for collecting samples is time consuming. The Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) was developed at WHOI as a submersible flow cytometer that can resolve particles in the 10-150 micrometer size range, including critical phytoplankton groups such as diatoms, dinoflagellates, and coccolithophores, and can capture up to 30,000 high resolution images per hour. To date IFCB?s have been deployed at coastal fixed structures (piers, tower) with power, internet, and regular maintenance. This EAGER proposal will expand the operational capabilities of IFCB by testing it on an open ocean mooring. If successful, a new generation of autonomous plankton samplers could be deployed in geographically diverse locations throughout the global ocean in ecologically and biogeochemically significant locations far from the coastlines. This project will fund a graduate student from SIO who will be trained to operate and maintain the IFCB, as well as analyze data using machine learning tools and image analysis software.