©2020 Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office.Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation
©2020 Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office.The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) is a video-microscope system used for imaging plankton and other particulate matter in the size range from a few micrometers to several centimeters. The VPR is essentially an underwater microscope. It consists of four video cameras (with magnifying optics) synchronized at 60 fields per second (fps) to a red-filtered 80 W xenon strobe (pulse duration = 1 microsecond). The current lens on each camera can be adjusted to provide a field of view between 5 mm and 10 cm. Use of higher magnification lenses is currently being explored for viewing protozoans (less than 1 micrometer resolution). The four cameras are set for concentric viewing fields so that a range of up to four magnifications can be viewed simultaneously, allowing a wide size range of plankton to be sampled. Depth of field is adjusted by the lens aperture setting, and the volume sampled in each video field ranges from about 1 ml to 1 liter, depending on lens settings. The cameras have been configured for stereoscopic viewing as well.A strobe on the other arm illuminates the imaged volume and flashes 60 times per second, producing 60 images per second of the particles and plankton in the water. The images are then saved internally on a computer hard disk and later plotted.
Deployment: Most commonly, the VPR is mounted in a frame and lowered into the water from the stern of the ship. Sometimes, a CTD also is mounted next to the VPR to collect depth, temperature, and salinity information at the same time as each video image. The instrument is lowered down through the water to a maximum depth of 350 meters to generate a profile of plankton/particle abundance and taxon group along with temperature and salinity. In addition to the towed configuration for mapping plankton distributions, it is possible to deploy the VPR in a fixed position (on a mooring) for viewing plankton swimming behaviors in two or three dimensions. The VPR instrument system has been used in both configurations, and deployment on ROVs has been proposed.
This definition was taken from the WHOI Ocean Instruments Web site and from a US GLOBEC Newsletter.
| Dataset Name | PI-Supplied Description | PI-Supplied Name |
|---|---|---|
| VPR data from RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer NBP1201 in the Ross Sea from Dec. 2011 - Feb. 2012 (PRISM-RS project) | The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) is a video-microscope system used for imaging plankton and other particulate matter in the size range from a few micrometers to several centimeters. The VPR is essentially an underwater microscope. It consists of four video cameras (with magnifying optics) synchronized at 60 fields per second (fps) to a red-filtered 80 W xenon strobe (pulse duration = 1 microsecond). The current lens on each camera can be adjusted to provide a field of view between 5 mm and 10 cm. | VPR |
| VPR acquisition log sheets (pdf) from R/V Tioga TI715 in the Gulf of Maine from October 2013 (Gulf of Maine Pteropods project) | VPR | |
| Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) raw data file collection from R/V Oceanus OC404-01, OC404-04, OC415-01, OC415-03 in the Sargasso Sea, 2004-2005 (EDDIES project) | Video Plankton Recorder | |
| VPR data from R/V Oceanus OC469-01, OC471-01 in the NW Atlantic: Woods Hole to Barbados from 2010-2011 (Trichodesmium project) | The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) is a video-microscope system used for imaging plankton and other particulate matter in the size range from a few micrometers to several centimeters. The VPR is essentially an underwater microscope. It consists of four video cameras (with magnifying optics) synchronized at 60 fields per second (fps) to a red-filtered 80 W xenon strobe (pulse duration = 1 microsecond). The current lens on each camera can be adjusted to provide a field of view between 5 mm and 10 cm. | VPR |
| Video Plankton Recorder environmental sensor data from the first cruise of SPIROPA project aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong to the New England Shelfbreak in April, 2018 | Environmental data (temperature, salinity, turbidity, fluorescence, irradiance, dissolved oxygen) collected by sensors mounted on the Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) | Video Plankton Recorder environmental sensors |
| VPR cast data sheets from R/V Oceanus, R/V New Horizon OC473, NH1208 in the western N. Atlantic and eastern Pacific, 2011-2012 (OAPS project) | Video Plankton Recorder | |
| VPR images and log files from cruise RR2004 in the Pacific Sector of the Southern Ocean and cruise TN376 in the South Indian Ocean (Jan 2020 to Feb 2021) | Environmental data (temperature, salinity, turbidity, fluorescence, irradiance, dissolved oxygen) collected by sensors mounted on the Video Plankton Recorder (VPR). | Video Plankton Recorder II (VPR II, from SeaScan Inc.) |
| Video Plankton Recorder environmental sensor data from the third cruise of SPIROPA project, R/V Thomas G. Thompson cruise TN368, to the New England Shelfbreak in July of 2019 | Environmental data (temperature, salinity, turbidity, fluorescence, irradiance, dissolved oxygen) collected by sensors mounted on the Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) . | |
| Video Plankton Recorder data (formatted with taxa displayed in single column); from R/V Columbus Iselin and R/V Endeavor cruises CI9407, EN259, EN262 in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank from 1994-1995 | Video Plankton Recorder, a towed vehicle. The Video Plankton Recorder was towed at 2 m/s, collecting data from the surface to the bottom (towyo). The VPR was equipped with 2-4 cameras, temperature and conductivity probes, fluorometer and transmissometer. Environmental data was collected at 0.25 Hz (CI9407) or 0.5 Hz (EN259, EN262). Video images were recorded at 60 fields per second (fps). | Video Plankton Recorder |
| Abundace data for taxon determined by Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) on RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer cruises NBP0103, NBP0104, NBP0202 in the Southern Ocean from 2001-2002 (SOGLOBEC project) | Video Plankton Recorder | |
| Video Plankton Recorder data from R/V Columbus Iselin and R/V Endeavor in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank from 1994-1995 (GB project) | Video Plankton Recorder, a towed vehicle. The Video Plankton Recorder was towed at 2 m/s, collecting data from the surface to the bottom (towyo). The VPR was equipped with 2-4 cameras, temperature and conductivity probes, fluorometer and transmissometer. Environmental data was collected at 0.25 Hz (CI9407) or 0.5 Hz (EN259, EN262). Video images were recorded at 60 fields per second (fps). | Video Plankton Recorder |
| Video Plankton Recorder data where values reported as zero or nd have been removed from display; from RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer cruises NBP0103, NBP0104, NBP0202 in the Southern Ocean from 2001-2002 (SOGLOBEC project) | Video Plankton Recorder | |
| Video Plankton Recorder data from R/V Columbus Iselin, R/V Endeavor cruises CI9407, EN259, and EN262 in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank from 1994-1995 (GB project) | Video Plankton Recorder, a towed vehicle. The Video Plankton Recorder was towed at 2 m/s, collecting data from the surface to the bottom (towyo). The VPR was equipped with 2-4 cameras, temperature and conductivity probes, fluorometer and transmissometer. Environmental data was collected at 0.25 Hz (CI9407) or 0.5 Hz (EN259, EN262). Video images were recorded at 60 fields per second (fps). | Video Plankton Recorder |
| Video Plankton Recorder data from RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP0103, NBP0104, NBP0202) in the Southern Ocean from 2001-2002 (SOGLOBEC project, Southern Ocean Krill project) | Video Plankton Recorder |