Plankton interact with the environment according to their size and three-dimensional (3D) structure. To study them outdoors, these translucent specimens are imaged in situ. Light projects through a specimen in each image. The specimen has a random scale, drawn from the population’s size distribution and random unknown pose. The specimen appears only once before drifting away. We achieve 3D tomography using such a random ensemble to statistically estimate an average volumetric distribution of the plankton type and specimen size. To counter errors due to non-rigid deformations, we weight the data, drawing from advanced models developed for cryo-electron microscopy. The weights convey the confidence in the quality of each datum. This confidence relies on a statistical error model. We demonstrate the approach on live plankton using an underwater field microscope.

中文翻译：

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通过稳健的统计光学断层扫描重建浮游生物

浮游生物根据其大小和三维 (3D) 结构与环境相互作用。为了在户外研究它们，这些半透明的标本被原位成像. 在每幅图像中，光线投射通过标本。样本具有随机比例，取自种群的大小分布和随机未知姿势。标本在飘走之前只出现过一次。我们使用这种随机集合实现 3D 断层扫描，以统计估计浮游生物类型和标本大小的平均体积分布。为了应对非刚性变形引起的错误，我们对数据进行加权，从为低温电子显微镜开发的高级模型中提取数据。权重传达了对每个数据质量的信心。这种置信度依赖于统计误差模型。我们使用水下现场显微镜演示了活浮游生物的方法。