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A computer vision‐based approach for estimating carbon fluxes from sinking particles in the ocean

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The gravitational settling of organic particles in the ocean drives long‐term sequestration of carbon from surface waters to the deep ocean. Quantifying the magnitude of carbon sequestration flux at high spatiotemporal resolution is critical for monitoring the ocean's ability to sequester carbon as ecological conditions change. Here, we propose a computer vision‐based method for classifying images of sinking marine particles and using allometric relationships to estimate the amount of carbon that the particles transport to the deep ocean. We show that our method reduces the amount of time required by a human image annotator by at least 90% while producing ecologically informed estimates of carbon flux that are comparable to estimates based on purely manual review and chemical bulk carbon measurements. This method utilizes a human‐in‐the‐loop domain adaptation approach to leverage images collected from previous sampling campaigns in classifying images from novel campaigns in the future. If used in conjunction with autonomous imaging platforms deployed throughout the world's oceans, this method has the potential to provide estimates of carbon sequestration fluxes at high spatiotemporal resolution while facilitating an understanding of the ecological pathways that are most important in driving these fluxes.
DOI: 10.1002/lom3.10665
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,360
Funders: National Science Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of California, Resnick Sustainability Institute for Science, Energy and Sustainability, California Institute of Technology, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Award: THE MAGNITUDE OF PARTICULATE CARBON EXPORT FROM THE UPPER OCEAN AND EFFICIENCY OF ITS TRANSFER INTO THE INTERIOR REMAINS ONE OF THE LEAST PREDICTABLE PROCESSES INFLUENCING THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THE EXPORTS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP MECHANISTIC MODELS PREDICTING THE STRENGTH AND EFFICIENCY OF THIS EXPORTED CARBON. A CENTRAL REQUIREMENT ONE MIGHT ARGUE THE CENTRAL REQUIREMENT OF THE AMBITIOUS SET OF FIELD MEASUREMENTS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP SATELLITE-DRIVEN MODELS IS ACCURATE MEASUREMENT OF SINKING PARTICLE FLUXES AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS. THESE MEASUREMENTS MUST BE EMBEDDED IN A BROADER SUITE OF PHYSICAL BIOLOGICAL AND OPTICAL OBSERVATIONS SO A SECOND REQUIREMENT IS THAT THE TEAM QUANTIFYING PARTICLE FLUX COOPERATES AND WORKS CLOSELY WITH THE BROADER EXPORTS SCIENCE TEAM. HERE WE PROPOSE A HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN STUDY OF PARTICLE FLUXES THAT BOTH ADVANCES OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE OCEAN BIOLOGICAL CARBON PUMP AND MEETS THE BROADER PROGRAM GOALS ABOVE. THE BROAD HYPOTHESIS OF THE EXPORTS PROGRAM IS THAT THE STRENGTH AND EFFICIENCY OF THE BIOLOGICAL CARBON PUMP CAN BE PREDICTED FROM SATELLITE OCEAN COLOR OBSERVATIONS. IMPLICIT IN THIS HYPOTHESIS ARE A NUMBER OF ASSUMPTIONS WHICH MUST BE TESTED. THE SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES WE WILL ADDRESS ARE 1) THAT THE BIOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE PARTICLES SINKING OUT OF THE EUPHOTIC ZONE EXERTS SIGNIFICANT CONTROL ON BOTH THE MAGNITUDE OF THE SINKING CARBON FLUX AND ITS RATE OF ATTENUATION WITH DEPTH; AND 2) THAT TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN THE MAGNITUDE AND ATTENUATION OF SINKING PARTICLE FLUX IS CAUSED BY BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES.
OpenAlex ID: W4405867810
FWCI: 1.089
Cites: 47
Cited by: 5
Related to: 10