Application of a Holographic sensor for Plankton Ecology

Historical methods of zooplankton sampling and identification are limited, particularly with regard to spatial and temporal resolution in biologically patchy coastal marine ecosystems. One approach to improving zooplankton community characterization is high-resolution plankton imaging coupled with automated plankton identification. The first requirement for this approach is to image a representative sample of the zooplankton community. Achieving this requirement depends upon factors including the scales of biological patchiness, the speed at which the sampling platform moves through the environment, and the rate at which images are acquired (i.e. the total volume sampled by imaging). Testing of this approach was enabled by deployment of a holographic imaging instrument on the Dorado autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), coupled with targeted sampling by the AUV's Gulper water sampling system. The Gulper's rapid sample intake is considered to minimize escape of micro zooplankton, thus zooplankton enumeration by microscopy conducted on these samples may serve as ground truth for imaging methods. Conducting the first comparison of this nature, this intern project employed microscopy and image data sets acquired as part of the Sampling and Identifying Marine Zooplankton project (1. Harvey, Vrijenhoek Lab) from August and