2014 Volume 61 Issue 1 Pages 72-81
An Autonomous Visual Plankton Recorder (AVPR) was used to record colour in situ images of plankton and other marine particulates at several oligotrophic stations around the world, including a northern hemisphere subtropical open ocean, a northern hemisphere subtropical marginal sea, a southern hemisphere tropical marginal sea, and a polar open ocean. Quantitative analyses and comparisons of particle concentrations, sizes and vertical profiles were possible after identification of optimal image enhancement settings and employment of a specially-developed macro routine in the off-the-shelf image analysis software Image Pro Plus. Such baseline data is invaluable for assessing the effects of surface or near-surface waste water or tailings disposal during deep-sea mining operations in oligotrophic areas. Marine particulate profiles, their relationships to oceanographic parameters and water mass structure, and the resolution-dependent limitations of the system are introduced and discussed.
