Marine Electronics
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Technology from Fluid Imaging Technologies (Yarmouth, Maine) and Battelle introduced at the 2010 Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland this week will help marine scientists analyze global warming data much more quickly. The device, called the Submersible FlowCAM, allows for the real time image analysis of algae as well as a wide variety of organisms, cells and particles that are in the water.
According to Derek Michelin, a Battelle scientist who worked on the project with Fluid Imaging, the FlowCAM not only captures digital images of cells and particles, but also can take and analyze 26 different types of measurements. The system, which takes up to 22 digital pictures a second, uses a statistical pattern matching algorithm that automates the task of taxonomic group classification. Such capabilities can be used to quickly alert a scientist and the public to environmental dangers, such as red tide algae. The scientist can then select graphs, tables and charts to compare the different data, like cell chlorophyll versus algae type.
The most critical facet of the new device is that it eliminates expensive manual water sample collection. With the FlowCAM, a laboratory technician can examine organisms that are oceans apart, in real-time, simply by turning on a PC. “We have been aware of the requirement of marine researchers and water quality monitors for an in situ device providing real-time information on microorganisms in water systems ever since we first developed the FlowCAM in 1999,” said Harry Nelson, Director of Aquatic Sales for Fluid Imaging Technologies. “Teaming up with the engineering expertise of Battelle, we are very pleased to be able to now offer our imaging technology filling this important need.”
The FlowCAM can be used over water on buoys, submerged underneath docks or deployed in autonomous underwater vehicles, like gliders. Just 32 inches long, with a diameter of 11.5 inches and a weight of 115 pounds, the device can be submerged to a depth of 200 meters, allowing it to be used in stationary and roving autonomous underwater laboratories.
Because plankton are central to the study of global warming, the FlowCAM can be used to construct better climate models. According to Carlton Hunt, Research Leader at Battelle’s Duxbury, Massachusetts laboratory, the Submersible FlowCAM could help scientists construct better climate models by providing more highly resolved plankton data to better understand the global carbon cycle.
The scientists also indicated that the device could be used in the Great Lakes to help further understand algae blooms, especially, toxic blue-green algae. Other applications include the monitoring of freighter ballast water. Ballast water is often contaminated.
For the project, Battelle designed the pressure vessel housing. Fluid Imaging Technologies’ scientists designed the instruments inside. The design of those instruments was based on previous designs that the company built for environmental monitoring and industrial applications like pharmaceutical, chemical, and plastics quality control.
