The last 10-15 years has seen a tremendous growth in the development and application of new sensor platforms, specifically autonomous and Lagrangian platforms such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, drifters, and ocean glider and in the realm of integrated Ocean Observing Systems (OOSs). A parallel growth in the realm of biosensors remains significantly behind that of the geophysical sampling and biosampling is an under-represented sector in the implementation of OOS systems worldwide. Nevertheless, the potential for discovery and environmental health assessment from biological and chemical sensors is extremely high.
The PI's propose to design and integrate current-off-the-shelf technology into a novel configuration that has not been accomplished before. While it is true that systems like the Hardy Continuous Plankton Sampler (1930) have some historical bearing on this project, and certainly point to the long standing need for a system such as we are proposing, the development of a new class of modular self-contained, programmable pump-filter systems is a significantly distinct undertaking. The development of this device is particularly urgent given the critical need in the community for biological sampling in connection with existing and planned ocean observatory and mooring networks.
Broader Impacts
The development of a low-cost high capacity smart biosampler that has the ability to store samples for extended periods of time for later analysis will satisfy the critical need to access these vastly understudied areas of our oceans. The proposed modular autonomous biosampler has the potential to dramatically increase our remote long-term biological surveillance capabilities. The potential for discovery and environmental health assessment from biological and chemical sensors is extremely high.
The oceanographic community is severely limited in the ability to conduct extended time series biological sampling in remote locations. This is particularly true for distant offshore and deep-sea sites. Our limited view of biological productivity in these locations comes either from opportunistic spot sampling or extrapolative remote sensing tools. This is particularly surprising in comparison to the level of instrumentation that now exists for acquiring physical and geophysical data (e.g. side-scan sonar, current profiles, etc.) in the oceans. Therefore, the development of a low- cost high capacity smart biosampler that has the ability to store samples for extended periods of time for later analysis will satisfy the critical need to ?access these vastly understudied areas of our oceans. The ability to deploy such a unit on multiple platforms will meet the needs of a broad sector of the community currently developing access capabilities to these remote areas such as ocean observing networks and AUV/ROV platforms. The modular autonomous biosampler (MAB) system has the potential to dramatically increase our remote long-term biological surveillance capabilities. In this project, we developed a prototype sensor for low-cost, high sample capacity modular, autonomous biological sampling (MAB). The unit is designed for filtering and preserving 3 distinct biological size-classes (including bacteria), and is deployable in any aquatic setting from a variety of platform modalities (AUV, ROV, or mooring). The development of our prototype system has lead to a new and novel resource for our researchers and students interested in biological sampling of the oceans. Furthermore, the design insights gained during the prototype build and testing phase have expanded our understanding of the biosampler improving our design for the subsequent field units for standalone and AUV operations. Our project is intrinsically aimed at inspiring commercialized technology and we hope to build upon this prototype effort and eventually lead to a series of commercial sampler products that will be used in marine settings around the world. A provisional patent application has been filed for this technology by the University of Delaware. Furthermore, the efforts of this prototype project have lead to new and increased commercial partnership between various commercial marine engineering groups. Our project has helped to train and instruct two graduate students in ocean science and marine technology. Furthermore it has helped to engage 5 full-time professional engineers (mechanical and electrical) who are working on the project.
