Autonomous Multi-Scale Digital Imaging of Ocean Species

The researchers are developing a modular multi-scale imaging system and incorporating this into an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for autonomous quantification of distributional patterns of plankton, micronekton and nekton species. Using these imaging systems on a fleet of AUVs would provide high-resolution 3D distributional data on species over a broad area and improve the understanding and prediction of abundance patterns in marine population. Such data are essential to fisheries management and water quality science.