Dr. Michael C. Storrie-Lombardi Profile

Dr. Michael C. Storrie-Lombardi

President at Kinohi Institute

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (20)

Proceedings Article | 23 September 2011 Paper

Spectral profiling and imaging (SPI): extending L.I.F.E. technology for the remote exploration of life in ice caves (R.E.L.I.C.) on Earth and Mars

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Alex Hall, Steven Hang, Gregory Lyzenga, Christopher Clark, Birgit Sattler, Asim Bej, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 8152, 815217 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.916987

KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Reflectivity, Mars, Microorganisms, Robotics, Raman spectroscopy, Bacteria, Profiling, Imaging systems, Organisms

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Proceedings Article | 23 September 2011 Paper

L.I.F.E.: laser induced fluorescence emission, a non-invasive tool to detect photosynthetic pigments in glacial ecosystems

Markus Tilg, Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Christoph Kohstall, Andreas Trenkwalder, Roland Psenner, Birgit Sattler

Proceedings Volume 8152, 81520I (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893586

KEYWORDS: Ecosystems, Calibration, Liquids, Mars, Laser induced fluorescence, Crystals, Carbon, Snow cover, Climatology, Microorganisms

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Proceedings Article | 11 September 2009 Paper

Diversity of bacterial communities in the lakes of Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica

Nazia Mojib, Jonathan Huang, Richard Hoover, Elena Pikuta, Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Birgit Sattler, Dale Andersen, Asim Bej

Proceedings Volume 7441, 74410J (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.831289

KEYWORDS: Bacteria, Microorganisms, Water, Ecosystems, Liquids, Aerospace engineering, Geology, Biological research, Taxonomy, Astrobiology

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Proceedings Article | 11 September 2009 Paper

Laser induced fluorescence emission (L.I.F.E.): in situ and remote detection of life in Antarctic and Alaskan ice

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Birgit Sattler

Proceedings Volume 7441, 744109 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.831288

KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Mars, Microorganisms, Sensors, Laser induced fluorescence, Liquids, Photons, Imaging spectroscopy, Ecosystems, Exoplanets

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Proceedings Article | 2 September 2008 Paper

Microbial extremophiles from the 2008 Schirmacher Oasis Expedition: preliminary results

Richard Hoover, Elena Pikuta, Alisa Townsend, Joshua Anthony, Melissa Guisler, Jasmine McDaniel, Asim Bej, Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 7097, 70970L (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.801018

KEYWORDS: Bacteria, Astrobiology, Reconnaissance, Liquids, Minerals, Microorganisms, Yeast, Methane, Aerospace engineering, Mars

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Among the most interesting targets for Astrobiology research are the polar ice caps and the permafrost of Mars and the ice and liquid water bodies that may lie beneath the frozen crusts of comets, the icy moons of Jupiter (Europa, Io and Ganymede) and Saturn (Titan and Enceladus). The permanently ice-covered lakes of Antarctica, such as Lake Vostok and Lake Untersee, provide some of the best terrestrial analogues for these targets. The 2008 International Tawani Schirmacher Oasis/Lake Untersee Expeditions have been organized to conduct studies of novel microbial extremophiles and investigate the biodiversity of the glaciers and ice-covered lakes of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. This paper describes the preliminary analysis of the anaerobic microbial extremophiles isolated from samples collected during the 2008 International Schirmacher Oasis Antarctica Reconnaissance Expedition. These samples showed great diversity of psychrophlic and psychrotolerant bacteria. Six new anaerobic strains have been isolated in pure cultures and partially characterized. Two of them (strains ARHSd-7G and ARHSd-9G) were isolated from a small tidal pool near the colony of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus. Strain ARHSd-7G was isolated on mineral anaerobic medium with 3 % NaCl, pH 7 and D-glucose, it has motile, vibrion shape cells, and is Gram variable. Strain ARHSd-9G grew on anaerobic, alkaline medium with pH 9 and 1 % NaCl at 3°C. The substrate was D-glucose supplemented with yeast extract (0.05 %). Cells of strain ARHSd-9G had morphology of straight or slightly curved elongated rods and demonstrated unusual optical effects under dark-field visible light microscopy. The cells were spore-forming and Gram positive. From the mat sample collected near Lake Zub, the new strain LZ-3 was isolated in pure culture at 3°C. Strain LZ-3 was anaerobic and grew on 0.5 % NaCl mineral medium with Dglucose as a substrate. The gram positive cells were spore-forming. They exhibited a distinctive morphology of large rods with rounded ends and size 1x10 μm. From the sample of ice sculpted by wind and melting by solar heating, containing many entrained black rocks collected near Lake Podprudnoye the new strain ISLP-22 was isolated in pure culture. The cells of this strain had vibrion shape and were spore-forming and had "baseball bat" shapes). This culture preferred 0.1 % NaCl mineral anaerobic medium and grew rapidly at 3 °C. Currently, all strains are under physiological study and phylogenetic analysis.

Proceedings Article | 28 August 2008 Paper

Epifluorescence surveys of extreme environments using PanCam imaging systems: Antarctica and the Mars regolith

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Jan-Peter Muller, Martin Fisk, Andrew Griffiths, Andrew Coates, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 7097, 70970P (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800924

KEYWORDS: Mars, Luminescence, Ultraviolet radiation, Cameras, Imaging systems, Light emitting diodes, Optical filters, Analog electronics, Robotics, Semiconductor lasers

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Proceedings Article | 28 August 2008 Paper

3D characterization of stromatolites and the emergence of complexity

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Stanley Awramik, John Nesson

Proceedings Volume 7097, 709711 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800918

KEYWORDS: Computed tomography, X-ray computed tomography, Image compression, Tomography, Nondestructive evaluation, 3D acquisition, Statistical analysis, X-rays, Planets, 3D image processing

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Proceedings Article | 1 October 2007 Paper

Co-evolution of cyanophage and cyanobacteria in Antarctic lakes: adaptive responses to high UV flux and global warming

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Holly Pinkart

Proceedings Volume 6694, 66941E (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.745960

KEYWORDS: Proteins, Ultraviolet radiation, Data storage, Viruses, Climate change, Polymers, Organisms, Genetics, Water, Ecosystems

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Proceedings Article | 1 October 2007 Paper

Diversity, evolution, and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in soda lakes

Holly Pinkart, Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 6694, 66940Y (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.736267

KEYWORDS: Genetics, Telecommunications, Ultraviolet radiation, Proteins, Ecosystems, Organisms, Bacteria, Viruses, Observatories, Sulfur

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Proceedings Article | 1 October 2007 Paper

MR PRISM: a software suite for CRISM analysis

Adrian Brown, Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 6694, 669412 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.732260

KEYWORDS: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Prisms, Mars, Minerals, Magnetic resonance imaging, Image processing, Analytical research, Java, Absorption, Image analysis

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Last year at this meeting we described a computer application (Brown and Storrie-Lombardi, 2006), the Mars Reconnaissance PRISM or MR PRISM, designed to analyze hyperspectral data collected by the Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). The application links the spectral, imaging and mapping perspectives on the CRISM dataset by presenting the user with three different ways to analyze the data. At this time last year, CRISM was still in calibration mode and we presented data from ESA's OMEGA instrument to demonstrate the functionality of MR CRISM. A primary goal in developing this application is to make the latest algorithms for detection of spectrally interesting targets available to the Planetary Science community without cost to the individual investigator and with a minimal learning barrier. This would enable the community to look for Mars surface targets such as ices, hydrothermal minerals, sulfate minerals and hydrous minerals and map the extent of these deposits. The CRISM team has now provided significant data sets to our community. We have used one such data set to conduct a study on an exposed water ice mound. We review here our results on observations made of a ~36km diameter crater, recently named Louth, in the north polar region of Mars (at 70°N, 103.2°E). High-resolution imagery from the instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft were used to map a 15km diameter water ice deposit in the center of the crater. The water ice mound has surface features that include roughened ice textures and layering similar to that found in the North Polar Layered Deposits. We describe the data analysis process including detection and mapping of hydroxyl mineral signatures using the MR PRISM software suite. MR PRISM is currently in the prototyping stage. Future additions planned include a Bayesian analysis engine, the capacity to handle atmospheric correction routines provided by the CRISM team, the ability to display MOC, THEMIS and HiRISE data and eventually the ability to run on a distributed network to speed up processing of large image cubes. When the software is released to the general community, we hope its embedded scripting language, 'Groovy', will make it the 'front end' for many more sophisticated algorithms from all branches of Mars research.

Proceedings Article | 14 September 2006 Paper

Probabilistic classification of elemental abundance distributions in Nakhla and Apollo 17 lunar dust samples

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Richard Hoover, Mian Abbas, G. Jerman, J. Coston, Martin Fisk

Proceedings Volume 6309, 630906 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.690435

KEYWORDS: Principal component analysis, Mars, Carbon, Statistical analysis, Stochastic processes, Scanning electron microscopy, Artificial neural networks, Chlorine, Sodium, Aluminum

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Analysis of spectral and imaging data from meteoritic samples and sample return missions would benefit significantly from a systematic, quantitative statistical classification methodology and a common set of standards for data collection [McDonald and Storrie-Lombardi, 2006]. Stochastic artificial neural networks can be trained using elemental abundance distributions for the detection of macroscopic fossils [Storrie-Lombardi and Hoover, 2004] and extant microbial life [Storrie-Lombardi and Hoover, 2005]. These non-linear algorithms are particularly attractive since they can produce a Bayesian estimate of the classification accuracy of either human experts or automated, unsupervised classification algorithms. In sub-ocean and surface basalts on earth the networks can distinguish regions of biotic and abiotic alteration of basalt glass from unaltered samples using only elemental abundances as inputs [Storrie-Lombardi and Fisk, 2004b]. Recently, evidence has been presented documenting the presence of morphologic signatures in the Mars meteorite Nakhla [Fisk et al., 2004; Fisk et al., 2006] previously noted in regions of biotic alteration in sub-ocean and surface terrestrial basalts [Fisk et al., 2003; Furnes et al., 2004]. The tunneling alterations are not conclusive evidence of biotic alteration of Nakhla on Mars. However, the meteorite is well known to have experienced aqueous alteration prior to arrival on earth and is rich in carbon [Gibson et al., 2006; McKay et al., 2006]. We here present an initial application of our probabilistic classification strategy to assess elemental abundance distributions from multiple target regions in Nakhla and lunar dust samples collected by Apollo 17 astronauts. We present scanning electron microscope images and elemental abundance point distributions (C, N, O, Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, S, Cl, K2O, CaO, and FeO) for a series of target regions. We discuss our observations in the context of data previously presented in these meetings for extant cyanobacteria, fossil trilobites, Orgueil meteorite, and terrestrial basalt targets. These data are being added to a database that will made available to the biogeology and astrobiology communities as part of an ongoing effort to provide a quantitative probabilistic methodology for analysis of putative elemental abundance geobiological signatures.

Proceedings Article | 14 September 2006 Paper

MR PRISM: a spectral analysis tool for the PRISM

Adrian Brown, Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 6309, 63090V (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.677107

KEYWORDS: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Prisms, Mars, Minerals, Spectroscopy, Java, Absorption, Infrared spectroscopy, Analytical research, Infrared radiation

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Proceedings Article | 14 September 2006 Paper

Aqueous biotic and abiotic alteration of silicate rock: evaluation of landing sites on Mars for their potential of revealing evidence for life

Martin Fisk, Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Jennifer Josef

Proceedings Volume 6309, 630903 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.682099

KEYWORDS: Mars, Minerals, Silicates, Glasses, Microorganisms, Interfaces, Planets, Feldspar, Infrared radiation, Imaging systems

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Proceedings Article | 14 September 2006 Paper

A sideways view of stromatolites: complexity metrics for stromatolite laminae

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Stanley Awramik

Proceedings Volume 6309, 63090P (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.679869

KEYWORDS: Image compression, Eye, Carbonates, Photomicroscopy, Transmitters, Statistical analysis, Stochastic processes, Receivers, Principal component analysis, Crystals

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Proceedings Article | 22 September 2005 Paper

Probabilistic geobiological classification using elemental abundance distributions and lossless image compression in fossils, meteorites, and microorganisms

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 5906, 59060K (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.624885

KEYWORDS: Chemical analysis, Principal component analysis, Image compression, Iron, Aluminum, Silicon, Mars, Magnesium, Calcium, Detection and tracking algorithms

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Last year at this symposium we introduced a strategy for the automated detection of fossils during robotic missions to Mars using both structural and chemical signatures. The strategy employs a measure derived from information theory, lossless compression of photographic images, to estimate the relative complexity of a putative fossil compared to the rock matrix. Following target selection unsupervised multifactor cluster analysis of elemental abundance distributions provides an initial classification of the data. This autonomous classification is then confirmed using a non-linear stochastic neural network to produce a Bayesian estimate of classification accuracy. We have now employed this strategy to explore extant and fossil cyanobacteria from a variety of extreme terrestrial environments and microfossils and abiotic microstructures found in-situ in freshly fractured internal surfaces of carbonaceous meteorite. Elemental abundances (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe) obtained for both extant and fossil cyanobacteria produce signatures distinguishing them from meteorite targets and from one another. Fossil cyanobacteria exhibit significant loss of C, N, O, P, and Ca and increases in Al, Si, S, and Fe relative to extant organisms. Orgueil structures exhibit decreased abundances for C, N, Na, P, Cl, K, and Ca; and increases in Mg, S, and Fe relative to extant cyanobacteria. Fossil cyanobacteria are distinguished from Orgueil samples by relative increases in Al, Si, and Fe; and by diminished O and Mg. Compression indices verify that variations in random and redundant textural patterns between perceived forms and the background matrix contribute significantly to morphological visual identification. The results provide a quantitative probabilistic methodology for discriminating putatitive fossils from the surrounding rock matrix and from extant organisms using both structural and chemical information. The techniques described appear applicable to the geobiological analysis of meteoritic samples or in situ exploration of the Mars regolith.

Proceedings Article | 22 September 2005 Paper

The use of ultraviolet excitation of native fluorescence for identifying biomarkers in halite crystals

Melanie Mormile, Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 5906, 59060S (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.616906

KEYWORDS: Crystals, Luminescence, Ultraviolet radiation, Mars, Contamination, Microscopes, Microorganisms, Bacteria, Fluorescence spectroscopy, Microfluidics

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Recent findings by the NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers and ESA's Mars Express indicate that during an earlier era in the planets' evolution, evaporation of surface water may have left behind vast evaporite deposits^1,2,3. This makes the possibility of finding biological material preserved in halite inclusions most intriguing⁴. The retrieval and characterization of microorganisms from ancient halite crystals^5,6 suggests that it might be possible to locate their remains as biomarkers or even living cells from evaporites sampled from extraterrestrial environments. However, before this is possible, techniques for the detection of bacterial cells or biomolecules in halite and other evaporite crystals need further refining. Specifically, contamination must be minimized and quantified during the microbial analysis of such crystals. Aseptic techniques that allow for the direct extraction of fluid brines from micron to millimeter size inclusions significantly reduce the possibility for contamination. However, even with extreme precautions, the possibility for contamination cannot be entirely eliminated, particularly when culture-based methods are employed. We have elicited native fluorescence from a variety of biomolecules, including the aromatic amino acids and nucleic acids, by laser excitation at 248 and 224 nm from haloarchaea and haloarchaea residues trapped in halite. Energy to each sample, (positive control crystals with Halobacteria salinarum and bacteria-free negative control crystals), was 80 microwatts at 224 nm and 25 microwatts at 248 nm. A 30 s exposure of the inclusions within the positive control elicited easily detectable fluorescence while there was no response from the negative control crystals during the same exposure. Analysis of halite crystals sampled from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, New Mexico yielded similar results. To minimize microbial damage from the high-energy 224-248 nm beams and to make the technique more widely available to the scientific community, we have examined the possibility of using a standard epi-fluorescent microscope for similar purposes. We have elicited a native fluorescence response from microscopic eukaryotes in rapid scanning, low magnification mode employing 365 nm excitation and are optimizing the visualization of prokaryotes with this system. Aseptic identification of epifluorescent biosignatures in evaporite inclusions would be of significant utility for planetary protection and preliminary screening protocols during a Mars sample return mission.

Proceedings Article | 22 September 2005 Paper

Post-Bayesian strategies to optimize astrobiology instrument suites: lessons from Antarctica and the Pilbara

Michael Storrie-Lombardi

Proceedings Volume 5906, 59060Y (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.618279

KEYWORDS: Luminescence, Astrobiology, Mars, Ultraviolet radiation, Organisms, Reliability, Cameras, Spectrometers, Imaging systems, Image resolution

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Artificial neural networks patterned on fundamental neurological features of the human perceptual system have been shown to produce Bayesian probabilistic classifications of galaxies^1-3, identify biotic and abiotic alteration of subsurface basalts⁴, distinguish terrestrial fossils from their background rock matrix⁵, and detect areas of Archean hydrothermal alteration⁶. Data inputs for these classification tasks have varied from astronomical or high altitude images and spectra, to sub-micron resolution elemental abundances. However, Bayesian theory assumes an absence of statistical and interpretive ambiguity in a target signal, the antithesis of the problems facing remote and human exploration of extreme environments on Earth and extraterrestrial sites such as Mars, comets, and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Fundamental to our certainty about the classification of geobiological targets on Earth is a long scientific history of familiarization both with the geochemical evolution of our planet and the reliability and discriminating power of particular instruments. Reduction of the uncertainty associated with a putative extraterrestrial biosignature derived from a single probe is most often attempted by deploying a suite of instruments, each one interrogating distinct morphological and chemical phenomena in a target⁷. But understanding the relative weighting appropriate for merging disparate signals or distinct data sets is not a trivial issue⁸. And, as we have most recently seen in the case of ALH84001, strategies relying on the cumulative statistical power of multiple probes often crumble when subsequent review of abiotic physicochemical phenomena reveals even a single abiotic mechanism, no matter how improbable, capable of replicating the putative biotic signal. Finally, for extend extraterrestrial missions or work in remote environments on Earth, the fundamental "fewest moving parts" reliability rule must come into play. This communication highlights the minimum requirements for an astrobiological instrument suite for remote or human exploration of extreme environments both here on Earth and in our local and neighboring planetary systems. Critical items of concern include obtaining co-registered data characterizing target morphology, metabolism, and mobility; the face validity and familiarity of the instrumentation to the scientific community, and the choice of instrumentation sufficiently inexpensive and easy to use that it might find wide spread usage within the astrobiology community prior to mission deployment. Preliminary indications are that such an instrument can be implemented for a cost accessible to high school, college, and graduate students interested in geobiological and astrobiological research in extreme or hazardous environments.

Proceedings Article | 1 November 2004 Paper

Remote and in situ detection of environmental and biological signatures: ground-truthing hyperspectral imaging for planetary exploration

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Adrian Brown, Malcolm Walter

Proceedings Volume 5555, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.563607

KEYWORDS: Image compression, Principal component analysis, Biological research, Hyperspectral imaging, RGB color model, Image resolution, Astrobiology, Mars, Evolutionary algorithms, Ultraviolet radiation

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Proceedings Article | 1 November 2004 Paper

Evidence of biogenic alteration in sub-oceanic basalt glass: complexity image analysis, elemental abundance distributions, and Bayesian probabilistic classification

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Martin Fisk

Proceedings Volume 5555, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.563551

KEYWORDS: Glasses, Principal component analysis, Biological research, Chemical analysis, Statistical analysis, Oxides, Artificial neural networks, Visualization, Stochastic processes, Image compression

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Proceedings Article | 1 November 2004 Paper

Fossil signatures using elemental abundance distributions and Bayesian probabilistic classification

Michael Storrie-Lombardi, Richard Hoover

Proceedings Volume 5555, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.563573

KEYWORDS: Principal component analysis, Silicon, Magnesium, Iron, Aluminum, Visualization, Calcium, Statistical analysis, Stochastic processes, Artificial neural networks

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