Abstract
This paper presents the coming of age of digital microscopy as it relates to the study of marine organisms in and with their environment. In particular, recent advances in microscopic components as well as image analysis techniques are reviewed.
Confocal and non-confocal systems are compared for their unique capabilities as well as the choice of camera systems. Commercial confocal microscope systems have been optimized for their optical performance and are undergoing a second wave of development in their image acquisition systems which should make them much more useful in the future for biologists in all areas of research, including oceanography. The high resolution, linearity and extreme sensitivity of scientific 2-dimensional array charge-coupled devices (CCDs) make them the best low-light level detectors for all but extremely fast acquisition times.
The range of marine biological problems which may be addressed by digital microscopy is very broad. These can be divided into the following areas: a) the identification of objects on the basis of size and structure; b) the use of endogenous fluorescence molecules (e.g. chlorophyll) to both identify species and to assess viability; c) the characterization of bioluminescence organisms; d) the measurement of physical and physiological properties of marine organisms which provide information on water quality.
For many of the above problems a variety of software systems are already available which may be directly applied to marine questions. In other cases, the combination of biological information with image processing algorithms from a variety of disciplines will be necessary to implement the desired analysis. It follows from the high resolution of digital microscopy and image analysis that only small sample volumes can be processed at any one time, excluding high statistical precision in measurements of particle numbers but allowing precise discrimination between biological particles and debris.
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Arndt-Jovin, D.J. (1991). Digital Microscopy and Image Analysis: Where does it Impact on Oceanography?. In: Demers, S. (eds) Particle Analysis in Oceanography. NATO ASI Series, vol 27. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75121-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75121-9_2
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