| Contributors | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Dayton, Paul | University of California-San Diego Scripps (UCSD-SIO) | Lead Principal Investigator, Principal Investigator |
| Oliver, John | Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Kim, Stacy | Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) | Scientist, Contact |
| Copley, Nancy | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO) | BCO-DMO Data Manager |
Epifaunal abundance and diversity in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica in 2010, from ROV images.
Sampling and Analytical Methodology:
Seafloor imagery was collected by a remotely operated vehicle (SCINI) during the austral summer 2010. Surface (dive hole) locations were recorded with a handheld GPS, and quadrants were located within 200 m of the hole. Depths were accurate to 2%. Images were scaled with parallel lasers, from which we determined total area quantified, as well as area, length and/or diameter of individual organisms. Each line in the database indicates the presence of one individual of the taxa in that quadrant, even when there is no data listed for organism area or size; this allows abundance to be calculated. Organisms were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic category.
Related Literature:
LTERB proposal, "Collaborative Research: Decadal variation in Antarctic marine benthic ecosystems"
Cazenave, F, R Zook, D Carroll, M Flagg, S Kim. 2011. Development of the ROV SCINI and deployment in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Journal of Ocean Technology 6(3):39-58.
| File |
|---|
McMurdo_transects_v2c.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 574.74 KB) MD5:43b53560bffa3a43cfbe27774d512c71 Primary data file for dataset ID 4050 |
| Parameter | Description | Units |
| lat | latitude; North is positive; negative denotes South | decimal degrees |
| lon | longitude; East is positive; negative denotes West | decimal degrees |
| phylum | taxonomic phylum of organism | unitless |
| class | taxonomic class of organism | unitless |
| order | taxonomic order of organism | unitless |
| family | taxonomic family of organism | unitless |
| length | length of organism | centimeters |
| diameter_cm | diameter of organism | centimeters |
| area_organism_cm2 | area of organism | centimeters squared |
| area_photo_cm2 | area of organism | centimeters squared |
| year | year of sampling | unitless |
| month_local | month; local time | unitless |
| day_local | day of month; local time | unitless |
| synonomy | other identifying notes | unitless |
| depth_min | shallower depth of the range sampled | meters |
| depth_max | deeper depth of the range sampled | meters |
| species | the taxonomic binomial consisting of the genus name followed by the species name of the organism (separated with an underscore) | unitless |
| sta | station identifier | unitless |
| Dataset-specific Instrument Name | ROV |
| Generic Instrument Name | Remotely Operated Vehicle |
| Dataset-specific Description | Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging (SCINI) is a small, slender vehicle that can fit through a 20 cm hole in the ice, allowing for deployment without heavy drilling equipment and with minimal logistical support. Its maximum depth capability is 300 m. SCINI is equipped with two video cameras, scaling lasers, and lights, with forward speeds of up to 4 knots. SCINI uses Ethernet over power on a 400 m long two-wire tether. A long baseline acoustic positioning system is used for navigation which uses a combination of two to four acoustic transducers hanging below the ice and a synchronized pinger on the vehicle for positional accuracy of better than 1 metre. [See Cazenave, F, R Zook, D Carroll, M Flagg, S Kim. 2011. Development of the ROV SCINI and deployment in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Journal of Ocean Technology 6(3):39-58.] |
| Generic Instrument Description | Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) are unoccupied, highly maneuverable underwater robots operated by a person aboard a surface vessel. They are linked to the ship by a group of cables that carry electrical signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle. Most are equipped with at least a video camera and lights. Additional equipment is commonly added to expand the vehicle’s capabilities. These may include a still camera, a manipulator or cutting arm, water samplers, and instruments that measure water clarity, light penetration, and temperature. |
| Website | |
| Platform | shoreside McMurdo_Dayton |
| Start Date | 2010-10-01 |
| End Date | 2010-12-30 |
| Description | Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging (SCINI) is a small, slender vehicle that can fit through a 20 cm hole in the ice, allowing for deployment without heavy drilling equipment and with minimal logistical support. Its maximum depth capability is 300 m. SCINI is equipped with two video cameras, scaling lasers, and lights, with forward speeds of up to 4 knots. SCINI uses Ethernet over power on a 400 m long two-wire tether. A long baseline acoustic positioning system is used for navigation which uses a combination of two to four acoustic transducers hanging below the ice and a synchronized pinger on the vehicle for positional accuracy of better than 1 metre. [See Cazenave, F, R Zook, D Carroll, M Flagg, S Kim. 2011. Development of the ROV SCINI and deployment in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Journal of Ocean Technology 6(3):39-58.] |
From proposal abstract:
The ability to document and understand long-term trends in ocean climate and ecology, including the role of human activities on the biosphere, depends on an adequate knowledge of natural interdecadal fluctuations. The proposed research will document changes in benthic ecosystems in McMurdo Sound over the last four decades, i.e., since the beginning of quantitative studies of population and community organization in this region. The investigators will retrieve, analyze, and archive historical data of benthic assemblages in both hard and soft substrata, and continue work on several time series projects begun in the mid-1960s and early 1970s. The investigators will focus on the succession of marine invertebrate communities that have settled and survived on a variety of artificial substrates placed on the sea floor from the late 1960s to 1989. The substrates harbor several decades of information on patterns of settlement, growth, survival, longevity, overgrowth and other biological interactions and processes. The original researchers will relocate and permanently mark (with GPS) historical sampling sites; recover data from as much of the historical work as possible; provide meta-data to insure that past data are understood and sites can be properly resampled; and make all data available to the general science community in a permanent database housed at SCAR-MarBIN. The proposed work will be closely coordinated with an international macroecology program in the Ross Sea, represented by collaborator Simon Thrush (Latitudinal Gradient Project). In addition to reporting results in peer-reviewed publications and providing research support and opportunities for at least two graduate students, the investigators also will involve undergraduate and high school interns in the project, and participate in teacher education programs. The investigators will continue ongoing collaborations with K-12 outreach and college programs that focus on ocean science, and develop a new, broader public outreach effort with the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
| Funding Source | Award |
|---|---|
| NSF Antarctic Sciences (NSF ANT) |