SeaFlow data v1, high-resolution abundance, size and biomass of small phytoplankton in the North Pacific

Francois Ribalet, Chris Berthiaume, Annette Hynes, , Michael Carlson, Sophie Clayton, Gwenn Hennon, Camille Poirier, Eric Shimabukuro, Angelicque White, E. Virginia Armbrust
December 2019
PDF Cite DOI

Abstract

SeaFlow is an underway flow cytometer that provides continuous shipboard observations of the abundance and optical properties of small phytoplankton (< 5 μm in equivalent spherical diameter, ESD). Here we present data sets consisting of SeaFlow-based cell abundance, forward light scatter, and pigment fluorescence of individual cells, as well as derived estimates of ESD and cellular carbon content of picophytoplankton, which includes the cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and small-sized Crocosphaera (< 5 μm ESD), and picophytoplankton and nanophytoplankton (2–5 μm ESD). Data were collected in surface waters (≈5 m depth) from 27 oceanographic cruises carried out in the Northeast Pacific Ocean between 2010 and 2018. Thirteen cruises provide high spatial resolution (≈1 km) measurements across 32,500 km of the Northeast Pacific Ocean and 14 near-monthly cruises beginning in 2015 provide seasonal distributions at the long-term sampling site (Station ALOHA) of the Hawaii Ocean Time-Series. These data sets expand our knowledge of the current spatial and temporal distributions of picophytoplankton in the surface ocean.

Type
2
Publication
Scientific Data
Marine Biology Microbial Ecology
Francois Ribalet
Francois Ribalet
Research Associate Professor

My research interests include phytoplankton ecology, flow cytometry, population dynamics, and climate change.

Chris Berthiaume
Chris Berthiaume
Software Developer

I do computer things in the lab, mostly in Python, sometimes in Javascript or R.

Annette Hynes
Annette Hynes
Research Scientist

I investigate picophytoplankton distribution and diversity across physical gradients using the SeaFlow underway flow cytometer.

Senior Research Engineer

I develop new instrumentation to study the complex structure of microbial communities in the oceans. My work spans the fields of optical, mechanical, software and electrical/electronic engineering. Instruments such as the SeaFlow sheathless flow cytometer are designed and built from the ground up in my laboratory and machine shop. SeaFlow is currently being operated monthly on Hawaii Ocean Time-Series cruises and annual SCOPE funded cruises. I am currently working on a new flow cytometer for autonomous platforms. This cytometer, named PipeCyte, uses an immersion primary optic combined with sheathless detection optics to perform in situ single cell measurements in any fluid scaled to any size. The first target platform will be on board a CTD to perform continuous depth profiles of the phytoplankton community.