Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC08 New Techniques and Technologies from Single Cells to the Global Ocean

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Benfield, M, C, Louisiana State University, Oceanography & Coastal Sciences/Coastal Fisheries Institute, Baton Rouge, USA, mbenfie@lsu.edu

Schwehm, C, J, Louisiana State University, Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory, Baton Rouge, USA, chris@rsip.lsu.edu

Keenan, S, F, Louisiana State University/Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, Baton Rouge, USA, skeenan@lsu.edu

ZOOVIS: A HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL CAMERA SYSTEM FOR QUANTIFYING ZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

ZOOVIS is a new optical sensing system designed to produce profiles of zooplankton identities and abundances coupled with environmental data to depths of 250m. A 2048 x 2048 pixel digital camera images a defined volume of water illuminated by a strobed light sheet. The camera is coupled to a CTD equipped with a transmissometer and fluorometer. Images of zooplankton are acquired by the camera and transmitted to a surface workstation over optical fiber via a winch equipped with optical slip-rings. One fiber carries multiplexed camera control commands and data while a second carries multiplexed CTD control commands and data. Bench-top tests indicated that the fiber-optic network can carry uncompressed 12 bit greyscale images at the camera's maximum acquisition rate of 2 Hz. The volume of individual images can be as high as 600 ml while retaining sufficient image detail to resolve ctenophores and smaller targets down to several millimeters in length. The image volume can be reduced to provide higher resolution images of smaller targets such as copepods. This poster provides information on design features, sample images and target measurements.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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