Plankton Imaging Technologies

Optical methods such as underwater camera systems have established as a valuable tool in studying zooplankton and marine particles. One of the major advantages of imaging systems is the ability to examine plankton community composition or certain key taxa of interest in situ, particularly regarding their small-scale spatial distributions. Moreover, the non-invasive nature of imaging avoids perturbing or physically contacting target organisms (in contrast to traditional net sampling), making it ideally suited for studying fragile organisms such as gelatinous plankton.

Figure 1: Deployment of the in situ camera systems PIScO (“Plankton Imager with Scanning Optics”)

My group is working on the development of novel imaging technologies to further exploit the potential of this method. Our instrumentation includes several in situ and laboratory-based imaging systems to examine plankton community composition ranging from microzooplankton (>20µm) to mesozooplankton of several cm body size.

Furthermore, we are applying and refining modern data analysis methods, such as “deep learning” to process the huge amounts of image data and convert them into biologically and ecologically meaningful quantities.

Figure 3: Sample images of different plankton taxa (PIScO)

Recent projects:

GEOMAR Postdoc Research Group “Plankton Imaging Technology”
Future Ocean Cluster of Excellence Projects:
- “All-in-focus: Combining lightfields and shadowgraphs for advanced underwater imaging”
- “Combining deep learning, in situ imaging and citizen science to resolve the distribution of giant protists in major upwelling regions”
- “MicroZooImager: An integrated optical system for microzoo- plankton analysis”

The plankton imaging group currently consists of:

Dr. Jan Taucher (group leader)
Dr. Veit Dausmann (scientist)
Anton Theileis (engineer)

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RD2

Marine Biogeochemistry

Head of the Research Division Biological Oceanography (FB2-BI)
Prof. Dr. Anja Engel
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
Seefischmarkt / building 5, room 5-2.116
Wischhofstr. 1 - 3, 24148 Kiel
Phone:++49/( 0)431 600-1510
email: aengel(at)geomar.de
Administrative Assistant/Department Office FB2-BI
Silvana Gagliardi, room 5-2.310
Phone: ++49 (0)431 600-4445
Telefax: 0431 600-134445
email: bi-sekr(at)geomar.de
W Mikrobielle Biogeochemie (FB2-BI/MB)
Prof. Dr. Anja Engel
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel
Seefischmarkt / Gebäude 5, Raum 5-2.116
Wischhofstraße 1 - 3, 24148 Kiel
Telefon: 0431 600-1510
E-Mail: aengel(at)geomar.de
Assistenz/Geschäftszimmer FB2-BI/MB
Monika Peschke, Raum 5-2.310
Telefon: 0431 600-4447
E-Mail: mpeschke(at)geomar.de
Arbeitsgruppe Biogeochemische Prozesse (FB2-BI/BP)
Prof. Dr. Ulf Riebesell
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozenforschung Kiel
Seefischmarkt / Gebäude 5, Raum 5-2.313
Wischhofstraße 1 - 3, 24148 Kiel
Telefon: 0431 600-4444
E-Mail: uriebesell(at)geomar.de
Assistenz/Geschäftszimmer FB2-BI/BP
Silvana Gagliardi, Raum 5-2.310
Telefon: 0431 600-4445
Telefax: 0431 600-134445
E-Mail: sgagliardi(at)geomar.de
Arbeitsgruppe Plankton, Biogeochemie und Dynamik (FB2-BI/PBD)
Prof. Dr. Rainer Kiko
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozenforschung Kiel
Seefischmarkt / Gebäude 5, Raum 5-4.105
Wischhofstraße 1 - 3, 24148 Kiel
Telefon: 0431 600-1751
E-Mail: rkiko(at)geomar.de
Assistenz/Geschäftszimmer FB2-BI/PBD
Silvana Gagliardi, Raum 5-2.310
Telefon: 0431 600-4445
Telefax: 0431 600-134445
E-Mail: sgagliardi(at)geomar.de
European Research Council Advanced Grant for Prof. Dr. Ulf Riebesell!
Peer-reviewed publications of the research unit Biological Oceanography (since 2004)

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