Join us as a data scientist working on water column imaging. Your input will mainly be put to use in two fields:
Multibeam echosouding is typically used to map the seafloor using acoustic signals. These signals are influenced by particles in the water column. This interference of the acoustic backscatter is usually filtered out by the operator but can be put to use to study the water column. The resulting 3D datasets contain a plethora of information, such as turbidity. One of the tasks will be to automatically detect objects in the water column and determine their dimensions (volume, length, density, …).
At VLIZ, several methods exist to image plankton in the water column, both in situ (Video Plankton Recorder) and in the lab (FlowCam and ZooScan). These methods can also be used to obtain characteristics of the other particles in the water column, such as sediment (minerals and flocs). A second task will be to develop (Python) scripts to extract size info from 2D images of SPM in the water column. This will allow to optimize existing scripts on plankton detection and extend them to other types of particles in the water column.