scholarly journals An Under-Ice Hyperspectral and RGB Imaging System to Capture Fine-Scale Biophysical Properties of Sea Ice

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 2860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiliano Cimoli ◽  
Klaus M. Meiners ◽  
Arko Lucieer ◽  
Vanessa Lucieer

Sea-ice biophysical properties are characterized by high spatio-temporal variability ranging from the meso- to the millimeter scale. Ice coring is a common yet coarse point sampling technique that struggles to capture such variability in a non-invasive manner. This hinders quantification and understanding of ice algae biomass patchiness and its complex interaction with some of its sea ice physical drivers. In response to these limitations, a novel under-ice sled system was designed to capture proxies of biomass together with 3D models of bottom topography of land-fast sea-ice. This system couples a pushbroom hyperspectral imaging (HI) sensor with a standard digital RGB camera and was trialed at Cape Evans, Antarctica. HI aims to quantify per-pixel chlorophyll-a content and other ice algae biological properties at the ice-water interface based on light transmitted through the ice. RGB imagery processed with digital photogrammetry aims to capture under-ice structure and topography. Results from a 20 m transect capturing a 0.61 m wide swath at sub-mm spatial resolution are presented. We outline the technical and logistical approach taken and provide recommendations for future deployments and developments of similar systems. A preliminary transect subsample was processed using both established and novel under-ice bio-optical indices (e.g., normalized difference indexes and the area normalized by the maximal band depth) and explorative analyses (e.g., principal component analyses) to establish proxies of algal biomass. This first deployment of HI and digital photogrammetry under-ice provides a proof-of-concept of a novel methodology capable of delivering non-invasive and highly resolved estimates of ice algal biomass in-situ, together with some of its environmental drivers. Nonetheless, various challenges and limitations remain before our method can be adopted across a range of sea-ice conditions. Our work concludes with suggested solutions to these challenges and proposes further method and system developments for future research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (75pt1) ◽  
pp. 68-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiliano Cimoli ◽  
Arko Lucieer ◽  
Klaus M. Meiners ◽  
Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen ◽  
Fraser Kennedy ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIce algae are a key component in polar marine food webs and have an active role in large-scale biogeochemical cycles. They remain extremely under-sampled due to the coarse nature of traditional point sampling methods compounded by the general logistical limitations of surveying in polar regions. This study provides a first assessment of hyperspectral imaging as an under-ice remote-sensing method to capture sea-ice algae biomass spatial variability at the ice/water interface. Ice-algal cultures were inoculated in a unique inverted sea-ice simulation tank at increasing concentrations over designated cylinder enclosures and sparsely across the ice/water interface. Hyperspectral images of the sea ice were acquired with a pushbroom sensor attaining 0.9 mm square pixel spatial resolution for three different spectral resolutions (1.7, 3.4, 6.7 nm). Image analysis revealed biomass distribution matching the inoculated chlorophyll a concentrations within each cylinder. While spectral resolutions >6 nm hindered biomass differentiation, 1.7 and 3.4 nm were able to resolve spatial variation in ice algal biomass implying a coherent sensor selection. The inverted ice tank provided a suitable sea-ice analogue platform for testing key parameters of the methodology. The results highlight the potential of hyperspectral imaging to capture sea-ice algal biomass variability at unprecedented scales in a non-invasive way.


1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Bowman ◽  
Mark V. Brown ◽  
David S. Nichols

A total of 135 bacterial strains were isolated from congelation (land fast) sea ice samples and ice algae biomass samples obtained from the coastal areas of the Vestfold Hills in East Antarctica (68°S, 78°E) during the summers of 1992–95. The sea ice isolates, along with reference strains. were analysed by numerical taxonomy and for DNA base composition in order to determine the biodiversity of sea ice bacteria. From these analyses 22 clusters of strains (phena) were obtained with most phena apparently representing novel bacterial taxa. The sea ice isolates could be categorized into three groups based on their ecophysiology: 1) slightly halophilic, psychrophilic bacteria often possessing fastidious growth requirements and which were predominantly isolated from sea ice algae biomass or from algae-rich ice samples; 2) halotolerant and psychrotolerant bacteria; and 3) non-halophilic bacteria isolated primarily from upper sections of congelation ice and other ice samples with low levcls of algal biomass.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Forrest ◽  
Lars C. Lund-Hansen ◽  
Brian K. Sorrell ◽  
Isak Bowden-Floyd ◽  
Vanessa Lucieer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Identifying spatial heterogeneity of sea ice algae communities is critical to predicting ecosystem response under future climate scenarios. Using an autonomous robotic sampling platform beneath sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, we measured irradiance in spectral bands expected to describe the spatial heterogeneity. Derived estimates of ice algae biomass identified patchiness at length scales varying from 50–70 m under first-year sea ice. These results demonstrate that a step-change in how these communities can be assessed and monitored. The developed methodologies could be subsequently refined to further categorize different ice algae communities and their associated productivity in both Arctic and Antarctic waters.


1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1402-1415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn F. Cota ◽  
Jeffrey L. Anning ◽  
Leslie R. Harris ◽  
W. Glen Harrison ◽  
Ralph E. H. Smith

Except in "bottom ice" (lowest few centimetres) and surface waters impacted by autotrophs, the major inorganic nutrients behave conservatively in seawater and sea ice. From mid- to late spring, steep and persistent nutrient gradients were observed in the "well-mixed surface layer" with minima near the ice–water interface. Nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate are highly concentrated in heavily colonized bottom ice relative to seawater and the remainder of the ice sheet; concentrations in darkened, weakly colonized bottom ice are similar to the ice sheet. These nutrients also display strong vertical stratification over millimetre scales. Nitrate and phosphate in the bottom ice layer display strong positive relationships with chlorophyll. The accumulation of these nutrients in bottom ice must be biologically mediated and constitutes a significant sink. In contrast, silicic acid concentrations in bottom ice are close to those expected for sea ice formed from the source seawater, are only weakly related to algal biomass, and vary much less seasonally. Ice algae are apparently shocked osmotically and release their intracellular pools of dissolved nutrients. Intracellular pools of nitrate averaged 1.4–9.5% of total particulate nitrogen. Nitrient stresses, during periods of high biomass and sluggish supply, may be alleviated by pooling.


2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 623-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Monfort ◽  
Serge Demers ◽  
Maurice Levasseur

The seasonal development of bacterial abundance in first year bottom ice and underlying seawater were studied at Saroma-ko Lagoon in Hokkaido, Japan, and at Resolute Passage in the High Canadian Arctic during the algal bloom in spring 1992. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the high algal concentrations reached during the bloom of ice algae have inhibitory effects on bacterial dynamics. Bacterial abundance (measured as total cell count and colony-forming units CFU) increased with the increase of the algal biomass up to 500 µg Chla·L-1in both locations. Culturable fraction (measured as the percentage of CFU counts versus the total cell counts) was between 7% and 22% at Saroma-ko, and approximately 0.08% at Resolute Passage. When algal biomass exceeded 500 µg of Chla·L-1, both bacterial abundance and culturable fraction decreased significantly. There was a maximum threshold of algal biomass (between 500 and 800 µg of Chla·L-1) after which bacterial dynamics become negatively coupled to the algal biomass. These results suggest that bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic compounds from these extremely high algal concentrations could explain the decrease in bacterial abundance and culturability in bottom ice observed after the ice algae bloom.Key words: bacteria, culturability, algae, inhibitory effects, sea ice, Arctic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Charles Salame ◽  
Inti Gonzalez ◽  
Rodrigo Gomez-Fell ◽  
Ricardo Jaña ◽  
Jorge Arigony-Neto

Abstract This paper provides the first evidence for sea-ice formation in the Cordillera Darwin (CD) fjords in southern Chile, which is farther north than sea ice has previously been reported for the Southern Hemisphere. Initially observed from a passenger plane in September 2015, the presence of sea ice was then confirmed by aerial reconnaissance and subsequently identified in satellite imagery. A time series of Sentinel-1 and Landsat-8 images during austral winter 2015 was used to examine the chronology of sea-ice formation in the Cuevas fjord. A longer time series of imagery across the CD was analyzed from 2000 to 2017 and revealed that sea ice had formed in each of the 13 fjords during at least one winter and was present in some fjords during a majority of the years. Sea ice is more common in the northern end of the CD, compared to the south where sea ice is not typically present. Is suggested that surface freshening from melting glaciers and high precipitation reduces surface salinity and promotes sea-ice formation within the semi-enclosed fjord system during prolonged periods of cold air temperatures. This is a unique set of initial observations that identify questions for future research in this remote area.


Signals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-412
Author(s):  
Geetika Aggarwal ◽  
Yang Wei

During the pregnancy, fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) is deployed to analyze fetal heart rate (FHR) of the fetus to indicate the growth and health of the fetus to determine any abnormalities and prevent diseases. The fetal electrocardiogram monitoring can be carried out either invasively by placing the electrodes on the scalp of the fetus, involving the skin penetration and the risk of infection, or non-invasively by recording the fetal heart rate signal from the mother’s abdomen through a placement of electrodes deploying portable, wearable devices. Non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram (NIFECG) is an evolving technology in fetal surveillance because of the comfort to the pregnant women and being achieved remotely, specifically in the unprecedented circumstances such as pandemic or COVID-19. Textiles have been at the heart of human technological progress for thousands of years, with textile developments closely tied to key inventions that have shaped societies. The relatively recent invention of smart textiles is set to push boundaries again and has already opened the potential for garments relevant to medicine, and health monitoring. This paper aims to discuss the different technologies and methods used in non-invasive fetal electrocardiogram (NIFECG) monitoring as well as the potential and future research directions of NIFECG in the smart textiles area.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document