Antoine\u2019s project is contributing to the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition<\/a> (IIOE-2) \u2013 a comprehensive UNESCO science program that’s providing new information about the Indian Ocean\u2019s currents, marine ecosystems and influence on climate.<\/p>\n The IIOE-2 is a vital scientific endeavour, given that in the past 50 years the surface layers of the eastern Indian Ocean have warmed by more than a degree. Since it commenced in 2015, the program has enhanced our understanding about heat and mass transport in and around the Indian Ocean, which is vital for predicting climate variability and change.<\/p>\n Antoine\u2019s focus, and that of his postdoctoral researcher Dr\u00a0Charlotte Robinson, who will also be on board RV Investigator<\/em>, is the living minutiae that have major impact on atmospheric carbon \u2013 phytoplankton.<\/p>\n The surface layers of the seven oceans are the kingdoms of the phytoplankton. Ranging in size from less than a micron to a millimetre or so, and despite their reputation for plainness, phytoplankton are among the most diverse group of microorganisms on Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cPhytoplankton are responsible for consuming a large part of the planet\u2019s atmospheric CO2 and transferring carbon to the ocean depths, and, ultimately, to the sediments of the sea floor,\u201d Antoine explains.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re a major part of what we call the biological pump. If phytoplankton were to decrease, atmospheric CO2 would increase.\u201d<\/p>\n Every year, this floating community of photosynthesisers produces 50 billion tons of organic matter. Known as the oceanic primary production, it is the basis of the entire marine food web.<\/p>\n However, as Antarctic land-ice melts and changes the ocean\u2019s temperature, composition and flow, the impacts of climate change on marine and terrestrial life all around the Indian Ocean basin will be increasingly intense.<\/p>\n As an oceanographer, one of Antoine\u2019s main research interests is the long-term changes in ocean phytoplankton and primary production.<\/p>\n \u201cPhytoplankton actually produce the same amount of organic matter produced by the sum of Earth\u2019s terrestrial plants, when their biomass is less than one per cent of the biomass of terrestrial plants.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the importance of phytoplankton, it is critical to have accurate data about their abundance and how they\u2019re travelling, literally. But how to tally organisms in remote marine environments without constant sampling?<\/p>\n \u201cSatellite technologies and bio-optical techniques,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n At Curtin, Antoine heads the Remote Sensing & Satellite Research Group<\/a>. Their work centres on passive optical remote sensing, which interprets electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from the sun that is backscattered from the Earth to space.<\/p>\n Within this area, bio-optics is a relatively new science that studies the interactions between the EMR, as captured by satellite sensors, and absorbing and\/or scattering substances of biological origin \u2013 such as phytoplankton.<\/p>\n \u201cPhytoplankton contain the pigment chlorophyll-a, which preferentially absorbs light in the blue part of the spectrum, so we can quantify their biomass from space by gauging the chlorophyll concentration from the ocean colour,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cPlus, each species has a specific assemblage of other pigments we can use to identify the various groups.\u201d<\/p>\n He says such research capabilities are continuing to develop, in line with advances in satellite technologies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe launch in 1978 of the first satellite carrying an ocean colour sensor revolutionised the way oceanographers were seeing phytoplankton dynamics in the ocean.<\/p>\n \u201cRemote sensing offers us uninterrupted data sets over the world oceans, and these data are increasingly used in scientific research and applications.\u201d<\/p>\n What makes the Investigator<\/em> voyage revolutionary for Antoine and his research team is that the last, and only, scientific voyage to the 110th<\/sup> meridian east was in 1963 \u2013 15 years before the launch of the first satellite carrying an ocean colour sensor.<\/p>\n Between 1959 and 1965, the first hydrographic survey of the Indian Ocean was undertaken by international science teams from 14 countries, aboard 45 research vessels. The mission to explore the waters and seabed along 110\u00b0E was allocated to the Royal Australian Navy\u2019s wartime frigate HMAS Diamantina.<\/em><\/p>\n Now, scientists from around Australia and the world have arrived in Perth ready to board RV Investigator, <\/em>which hosts $20 million worth of scientific instruments for oceanographic, geological, biological and atmospheric research.<\/p>\n After sailing from Hobart to collect the researchers and a comprehensive cargo of research equipment, the ship is now set depart Fremantle and reprise the pioneering 1963 voyage of Diamantina<\/em><\/p>\n Five years in the planning, the project is led by Chief Scientist Professor Lynnath Beckley, from Murdoch University, with Antoine as Deputy Chief Scientist. In addition to Murdoch and Curtin, 14 other Australian and international universities and organisations are contributing research teams to the expedition.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/phytoplankton-NOAA-National-Ocean-Service-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIn living colour<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Colourful](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Satellite-image-from-NASA-MODIS-sensor.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFrom Diamantina<\/em> to Investigator<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/DIAMANTINA2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/David-Antoine-1-336x336.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"