Dataset: Tioga VPR logs
Deployment: TI715

VPR acquisition log sheets (pdf)

Lead Principal Investigator:

Gareth Lawson (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI)

Principal Investigator:

Amy Maas (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Nancy Copley (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Project:

Seasonal and Ontogenetic Effects of Ocean Acidification on Pteropods in the Gulf of Maine (Gulf of Maine Pteropods)

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Version:

Version Date:

2013-12-03

Data URL:

https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset-deployment/472539/data

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Description

Original hand-written log sheets for VPR casts recording initial conditions, date, time, location and observations.

The Video Plankton Recorder is an underwater video microscope system designed to record images of plankton ranging in size from less than one half millimeter up to a few centimeters. A strobe light flashing at 20 times per second captures images at this rate. A program called AutoDeck reviews the images at about 15 frames per second and extracts Regions of Interest (ROIs) that may be plankton based on certain parameters such as brightness and sharpness (see Settings for ROI Extraction below).

Methods & Sampling

Dataset acquisition description

The VPR was used in order to describe the abundance and vertical distribution of plankton taxa. The VPR was deployed off the aft via the same winch as the CTD and MOCNESS. After TI668, a stand was adapted which allowed the VPR to be strapped onto the Tioga CTD for simultaneous sampling. The hard-drive was removed following each cast and the data downloaded. Quick visual scrutiny of the data in Autodeck was performed ship-board to look for any depths of high pteropod abundance; no such depths were evident in the VPR data based on this preliminary examination.

See the cruise reports for the recommended settings (Click on Deployment links, below, then Deployment Report URL.)

Data Processing Description

Dataset Processing Description

More information about this dataset deployment

Funding

Award Number	Funding Source
OCE-1316040	NSF Division of Ocean Sciences

Instruments

Video Plankton Recorder

Supplied Name: VPR

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Video Plankton Recorder

Acronym: VPR

Generic Description:

The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) is a video-microscope system used for imaging plankton and other particulate matter in the size range from a few micrometers to several centimeters. The VPR is essentially an underwater microscope. It consists of four video cameras (with magnifying optics) synchronized at 60 fields per second (fps) to a red-filtered 80 W xenon strobe (pulse duration = 1 microsecond). The current lens on each camera can be adjusted to provide a field of view between 5 mm and 10 cm. Use of higher magnification lenses is currently being explored for viewing protozoans (less than 1 micrometer resolution). The four cameras are set for concentric viewing fields so that a range of up to four magnifications can be viewed simultaneously, allowing a wide size range of plankton to be sampled. Depth of field is adjusted by the lens aperture setting, and the volume sampled in each video field ranges from about 1 ml to 1 liter, depending on lens settings. The cameras have been configured for stereoscopic viewing as well.A strobe on the other arm illuminates the imaged volume and flashes 60 times per second, producing 60 images per second of the particles and plankton in the water. The images are then saved internally on a computer hard disk and later plotted.

Deployment: Most commonly, the VPR is mounted in a frame and lowered into the water from the stern of the ship. Sometimes, a CTD also is mounted next to the VPR to collect depth, temperature, and salinity information at the same time as each video image. The instrument is lowered down through the water to a maximum depth of 350 meters to generate a profile of plankton/particle abundance and taxon group along with temperature and salinity. In addition to the towed configuration for mapping plankton distributions, it is possible to deploy the VPR in a fixed position (on a mooring) for viewing plankton swimming behaviors in two or three dimensions. The VPR instrument system has been used in both configurations, and deployment on ROVs has been proposed.

This definition was taken from the WHOI Ocean Instruments Web site and from a US GLOBEC Newsletter.

Parameters

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
cruise_id	cruise identification	unitless	cruise_id

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: Tioga VPR logs
Deployment: TI715

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: Tioga VPR logsDeployment: TI715

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Dataset: Tioga VPR logs
Deployment: TI715