The major limitation of the LAPS is the time required for post-deployment processing of 

 the imaging data. Current efforts to streamline the computing steps required (e.g. capture, 

 thresholding, particle counting, data sorting and binning, data compilation) have reduced the 

 overall time significantly. However, the total process still requires four to five hours per cast. 

 On-board, post-cast processing and further refinements to the computer programs will reduce the 

 amount of data that needs to be processed ashore. A further limitation on the LAPS is that 

 profiles made during the day need more extensive image processing to account for the ambient 

 light field. However, given that film based systems cannot produce profiles in an ambient light 

 field at all, the ability to produce profiles under any lighting conditions is significant. 



STATUS OF RESEARCH 



The LAPS will be tested in the field area during a cruise in June/July 1994. Sediment 

 traps will also be deployed on that cruise to make the first comparisons between measured flux 

 and aggregate abundance in the field area. Efforts to streamline the image processing have 

 resulted in a suite of programs to handle the data from capture to binned data. 



Keywords: aggregates, marine snow, particle flux, video, beam attenuation 



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