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Hi Tim,

good question! I believe what you are asking relates to the data sampling.

The scientific method is about the reproducibility of the experiments 
under the conditions given.
The Technology of Research deals with the sustainability of human 
activities:
http://confocal-manawatu.pbworks.com/w/page/48682494/Goals%20of%20Technology%20of%20Research
In your case we should probably talk about the sustainability of your 
research.

If the high data sampling rate makes your research unsustainable, it 
will not be practical to confirm your results too.
However, if your secondary data (the tracks) are reproducible, you are safe.

Geological expedition is probably a good analogy with your experiment. I 
believe that its description is satisfactory when based on the GPS data, 
physical samples and photos from the sampling sites. High definition 
satellite real-time movies would be probably useful but still not 
required. The volume and character of data must be adequate to the 
objectives of a problem. Too much of data in your raw images form the 
"noise" that is meant to be "filtered" by your particle tracking 
algorithms. This is the fundamental problem of scientific 
instrumentation as the human/nature interface.

I hope you find it useful.
Other opinions would be highly appreciated.

Published in MIAWiki:
http://confocal-manawatu.pbworks.com/w/page/63370062/Scientific%20Instrumentation%20as%20Human%20-%20Nature%20Interface

Cheers,
Dmitry

*Advanced Knowledge Management*
for *MICROSCOPY *and *Image Analysis *
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06.02.2013 8:32, O'Brien III, E. Timothy ?????:
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> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
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>
> Dear Microscopists-
>
> Our group has begun using a parallel microscope system to study the movement of fluorescent beads on cells, or in biofilms, mucus, other biological fluids.  We then track the bead movements and generate MSD (mean squared displacement) curves for each bead.  Each 1 minute video at 60 FPS takes up about a gigabyte of data storage.  Meanwhile the tracks (position/ time) might take several kB for each bead.  We can take 12 videos simultaneously, so potentially we are generating 12 gB/minute, a terabyte every hour and 25 minutes!
>
> We believe that taking an image at the beginning of tracking, and keeping the tracking records would be sufficient for us to troubleshoot our data, since we can't possibly store the original videos.  This would let us know where the beads were at the beginning of the video (on the nucleus?  On the glass?) Signatures of "lost beads" or "stuck beads" are easily identified in control experiments.
>
> We are also considering other intermediate data reduction-potentially saving parts of the videos throughout the timecourse.  But this is going to be difficult to implement, and keep track of.  Moreover, the reduction is not nearly as high as taking one frame and keeping the tracking results.
>
> What is the community's understanding of the requirements for storing "original" data?  Do we need to keep full videos and spend all our budget on hard drives, or will just the position/time data and an index frame be enough?
>
> What other solutions does your group use?
>
> Thanks very much!
>
> Tim O'Brien
> Computer Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation
> UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina