TOMSK, Jul
3 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of the Faculty of Radiophysics of Tomsk State University (FR TSU), created a unique device for studying the ecological
condition of the water areas, plan to test it in the Kara Sea in August, the
employee of the TSU Laboratory for Radiophysical and Optical Methods of
Environmental Research Alexey Olshukov reported RIA Tomsk
Earlier it
was reported that FR TSU scientists developed a hardware and software complex
which is able to estimate in real time the biomass of living organisms
(plankton) and the ecological state of the investigated water area. In 2017,
scientists explored Mediterranean Sea in Egypt using the device to give
Egyptian colleagues recommendations on developing a program for marine
ecosystems monitoring.
As Olshukov
explained, the day before the scientists returned from Murmansk, where together
with colleagues biologists tested the Tomsk instrument on a ship in the Kola
Bay. According to him, Murmansk scientists usually analyze the ecological state
of the water areas with the help of mollusks, and they were interested in new
technologies. The TSU device has two modules – a holographic camera for
plankton research and a microwave module for fixing of harmful impurities.
"In
Murmansk, we registered a hologram and now we get information on the average
speed, trajectory and species diversity of plankton – these factors allow us to
assess the ecological state of the water area. In general, we tested our
device, outlined plans, then, together with Murmansk colleagues, to go to the
Kara Sea", – the scientist said.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
According
to him, while, presumably, the expedition is planned for August. He stressed
that the hardware-software complex is universal – it's suitable both for work
in the Far North and in the southern seas. In 2016 Tomsk residents already were
in the Kara Sea, but then they took an imperfect prototype of the device. Today
it is finished.
"At a
traditional method of assessing the state of the water area, a contact method
is used – using seine net plankton is caught, and then it's investigated under
a microscope. The uniqueness of our development is that we study plankton in a
natural environment without harming it. The instrument examines the volume up
to one liter with a resolution of 200 micrometers - is comparable with the
resolution of the microscope", – the scientist said, having specified that
there are analogues of the device in the world, but with a smaller volume.