Abstract:

The midwater region of the ocean (below the ocean surface and above the seafloor) is one of the largest ecosystems on our planet, yet remains one of the least explored. This region is home to processes and marine organisms we know almost nothing about, and necessarily links what’s happening in the atmosphere to the deepest depths of the ocean. Although significant advances in underwater vehicle technologies have improved access to midwater, methods for synthesizing this data are sorely needed as persistent observation platforms are utilized in the future. Here we present new imaging technologies (DeepPIV, an instrumentation package affixed to a remotely operated vehicle that quantifies fluid motions from the surface of the ocean down to 4000 m depths) and observational platforms (Mesobot, an autonomous underwater vehicle that uses stereo cameras to track underwater targets rated to 1000 m) that will enable investigations of the ocean’s midwaters in novel ways. Recently funded efforts to mine MBARI’s 30-year, expertly curated video database to generate an “ImageNet of the ocean” will also be presented. If successful, these efforts will lead to unprecedented observations of one of the least explored regions on our planet.

Bio:

Kakani received her PhD in Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology and specializes in biological fluid mechanics and in situ imaging methods. She is currently a Principal Engineer and Principal Investigator at MBARI, with funding provided by the Packard Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Kakani has been named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2011 and a Kavli Research Fellow in the National Academy of Sciences in 2013.