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

浮游植物是生活在海洋表面附近的一组不同的微生物。它们在海洋食物链和全球生物地球化学循环中发挥着至关重要的作用。成像流动细胞机器人(IFCB)已经使用多年，但由于高功率要求，部署仅限于这些类型的有电力和互联网连接的近岸地点。这项急切的计划将在公海系泊处测试部署成像流动细胞机器人。确定浮游植物群落的组成和时间动态的能力很重要，但传统的样本收集方法很耗时。成像流式细胞机器人(IFCB)是WHOI开发的一种潜水流式细胞仪，可以分辨10-150微米大小的颗粒，包括硅藻、甲藻和球藻等关键浮游植物群体，并可每小时捕获高达30,000张高分辨率图像。到目前为止，S已经部署在沿海固定结构(桥墩、塔楼)上，提供电力、互联网和定期维护。这项急切的提议将通过在公海系泊上进行测试来扩大IFCB的业务能力。如果成功，新一代自主浮游生物采样器可以部署在全球海洋不同地理位置的远离海岸线的生态和生物地球化学重要位置。该项目将资助SIO的一名研究生，他将接受操作和维护IFCB的培训，以及使用机器学习工具和图像分析软件分析数据。

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.