Digital Image Analysis Development in European Marine Ecology

Objective

The aim of this project is to develop, validate and apply a versatile instrument and software package for automatised identification and quantification of biomasses in the marine microplankton. Presently, these tasks rely on laborious manual microscopy. Consequently, biological parameters are often undersampled in oceanographic studies, and biological data handling lags months behind sampling, rendering an interactive sampling strategy not feasible.

Digital image analysis will be applied to video images of planktonic micro-organisms, obtained by microscopy. Routines will be developed to facilitate discrimination, identification/classification, enumeration and sizing of organisms. Neural network computing will be utilised to enable a morphologically-based classification of objects in digitized imagery, a classification which is in accordance with the accumulated taxonomic experience rather than being an alternative to it. The versatility of the image analysis will be evaluated through an intercalibration study on circulated samples and through joint application studies. A user-interface will be developed to facilitate training and quality assurance.
This project will initialise a European network for intercalibration and validation of identification and quantification of biomasses in the marine plankton. The achievement of the goals of this project will enable faster acquisition of quantitative biomass data in the study and monitoring of marine pelagic environments, leading to an improved understanding of the structure and functions of marine pelagic ecosystems and providing a better data base for numerical modelling.

Fields of science

• social sciences › media and communications › graphic design
• natural sciences › physical sciences › optics › microscopy
• natural sciences › biological sciences › microbiology
• agricultural sciences › agricultural biotechnology › biomass
• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › artificial intelligence › computational intelligence

Programme(s)

• FP3-MAST 2 - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the field of marine science and technology, 1990-1994

Topic(s)

• 0301 - Instrumentation for science

Call for proposal

Data not available

Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE - MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Address

399,frederiksborgvej 399
4000 Roskilde
Denmark

Participants (3)

CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS

Spain

Address

S/n,passeig Joan De Borbo S/n
08039 Barcelona

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK

Denmark

Address

Anker Engelundsvej 1, Building 101
2800 Lyngby

UNIVERSITY OF UMEAA

Sweden

Address

Universitetsomraadet
901 87 Umeaa