Chemical signals are primarily distributed throughout aquatic environments by processes that are affected by turbulence. Turbulence continually stirs and mixes chemical odorants into complex, filamentous structures that are sampled by organisms. These odorant signals are critical for survival and/or reproductive success of most aquatic animals, and the time varying spatial structure of velocity and concentration offers valuable guidance cues while navigating in a plume. Two separate techniques are described to simultaneously measure a turbulent odor plume on a scale relevant to the chemosensors and mechanosensors located along the antennules of aquatic organisms. The first, planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF), is used to quantify odorant concentrations, while the second, particle image velocimetry (PIV), is used to measure turbulent fluid velocities.
Keywords: Chemoreception; Odor plumes; Olfaction; Particle image velocimetry; Planar laser induced fluorescence; Turbulence.