Abstract:

In July, 2011 a research cruise was conducted to test the ZOOVIS-DEEP plankton imaging system. The cruise was conducted in the Chesapeake Bay aboard the RV Rachel Carson. ZOOVIS-DEEP is a self-contained camera system that is capable of documenting the composition of plankton and particles in the water column within a large image volume (100 ml) at high rates (15 Hz). This test cruise yielded data on the taxonomic composition of meso and macrozooplankton, particularly fragile, transparent, gelatinous organisms such at medusae and ctenophores, which are not effectively quantified by traditional samplers such as nets. This dataset supports the paper: Bi, H., Cook, S., Yu, H., Benfield, M. C., & Houde, E. D. (2013). Deployment of an imaging system to investigate fine-scale spatial distribution of early life stages of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Plankton Research, 35(2), 270–280.

Suggested Citation:

Benfield, Mark. 2017. ZOOVIS-DEEP high-resolution zooplankton and marine snow surveys, Chesapeake Bay, July 2011. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N71N7ZH7

Publications:

Bi, H., Cook, S., Yu, H., Benfield, M. C., & Houde, E. D. (2012). Deployment of an imaging system to investigate fine-scale spatial distribution of early life stages of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Plankton Research, 35(2), 270–280. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbs094

Purpose:

To test the deployment of ZOOVIS-Deep in Chesapeake Bay from the RV Rachel Carson.

Data Parameters and Units:

AVI video files containing raw ZOOVIS still images collected at ~15Hz. Image dimensions are 2050 high x 2448 wide with a pixel resolution of 10.8 microns. Field of view is: 2.22 cm tall x 2.65 cm wide x 17 cm deep. The 017324_20111013.xls file is the raw output from the CTD. The CTD_location_CB_20110720.csv file contains the CTD data merged with the GPS data from the boat. 017324_20111013.xls: Timestamp: day/month/year hour:minute:second Conductivity: mS/cm Temperature: Degrees Celsius Pressure: dBar Depth: meters Salinity: PSU Specific Conductivity: microS/cm Density Anomaly: kg/m^3 Speed of Sound: meters/s CTD_location_CB_20110720.csv: Hour=hour Minute=minute Second=second Conductivity=mS/cm Temperature=Degrees C Pressure=Decibars Depth=meters Salinity=PSU Specific Conductivity=microS/cm Longitude=decimal degrees Latitude=decimal degrees. track_info.xlsx: Track number Start longitude (deg decimal minutes) End longitude (deg decimal minutes) Start latitude (deg decimal minutes) End latitude (deg decimal minutes) Start time (HH:MM:SS) End time (HH:MM:SS) Max depth (m) Number of tow-yos along the track

Methods:

ZOOVIS was deployed in cross-estuary transects in the vicinity of the Patuxent River.

Individual Files: