Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea
Abstract Antarctic krill are the dominant metazoan in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass; however, their wide and patchy distribution means that estimates of their biomass are still uncertain. Most currently employed methods do not sample the upper surface layers, yet historical records indicate...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102021000262 2024-03-03T08:37:51+00:00 Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea Belcher, Anna Fielding, Sophie Gray, Andrew Biermann, Lauren Stowasser, Gabriele Fretwell, Peter Ireland, Louise Tarling, Geraint A. 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000262 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102021000262 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Antarctic Science volume 33, issue 4, page 402-414 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2021 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000262 2024-02-08T08:39:06Z Abstract Antarctic krill are the dominant metazoan in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass; however, their wide and patchy distribution means that estimates of their biomass are still uncertain. Most currently employed methods do not sample the upper surface layers, yet historical records indicate that large surface swarms can change the water colour. Ocean colour satellites are able to measure the surface ocean synoptically and should theoretically provide a means for detecting and measuring surface krill swarms. Before we can assess the feasibility of remote detection, more must be known about the reflectance spectra of krill. Here, we measure the reflectance spectral signature of Antarctic krill collected in situ from the Scotia Sea and compare it to that of in situ water. Using a spectroradiometer, we measure a strong absorption feature between 500 and 550 nm, which corresponds to the pigment astaxanthin, and high reflectance in the 600–700 nm range due to the krill's red colouration. We find that the spectra of seawater containing krill is significantly different from seawater only. We conclude that it is tractable to detect high-density swarms of krill remotely using platforms such as optical satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles, and further steps to carry out ground-truthing campaigns are now warranted. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Science Euphausia superba Scotia Sea Southern Ocean Cambridge University Press Antarctic Southern Ocean Scotia Sea Antarctic Science 1 13 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Belcher, Anna Fielding, Sophie Gray, Andrew Biermann, Lauren Stowasser, Gabriele Fretwell, Peter Ireland, Louise Tarling, Geraint A. Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract Antarctic krill are the dominant metazoan in the Southern Ocean in terms of biomass; however, their wide and patchy distribution means that estimates of their biomass are still uncertain. Most currently employed methods do not sample the upper surface layers, yet historical records indicate that large surface swarms can change the water colour. Ocean colour satellites are able to measure the surface ocean synoptically and should theoretically provide a means for detecting and measuring surface krill swarms. Before we can assess the feasibility of remote detection, more must be known about the reflectance spectra of krill. Here, we measure the reflectance spectral signature of Antarctic krill collected in situ from the Scotia Sea and compare it to that of in situ water. Using a spectroradiometer, we measure a strong absorption feature between 500 and 550 nm, which corresponds to the pigment astaxanthin, and high reflectance in the 600–700 nm range due to the krill's red colouration. We find that the spectra of seawater containing krill is significantly different from seawater only. We conclude that it is tractable to detect high-density swarms of krill remotely using platforms such as optical satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles, and further steps to carry out ground-truthing campaigns are now warranted. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Belcher, Anna Fielding, Sophie Gray, Andrew Biermann, Lauren Stowasser, Gabriele Fretwell, Peter Ireland, Louise Tarling, Geraint A. |
author_facet |
Belcher, Anna Fielding, Sophie Gray, Andrew Biermann, Lauren Stowasser, Gabriele Fretwell, Peter Ireland, Louise Tarling, Geraint A. |
author_sort |
Belcher, Anna |
title |
Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
title_short |
Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
title_full |
Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
title_fullStr |
Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Experimental determination of reflectance spectra of Antarctic krill ( Euphausia superba ) in the Scotia Sea |
title_sort |
experimental determination of reflectance spectra of antarctic krill ( euphausia superba ) in the scotia sea |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000262 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102021000262 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Scotia Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Scotia Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Science Euphausia superba Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Science Euphausia superba Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 33, issue 4, page 402-414 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102021000262 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
13 |
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1792502152534425600 |