A System for Simultaneous Lagrangian Observations of Ocean Biophysical Parameters
Abstract
Improved predictions of oceanic optical and acoustic environments require greater understanding of the interactions among physics, nutrients, primary, and secondary production. Frontal structures, ubiquitous in the ocean, modulate the vertical supply of nutrients from depth into the sunlit (euphotic) zone where photosynthesis can proceed. Intermediate trophic level organisms (e.g., zooplankton, small epi- and mesopelagic fish) provide pathways for the transfer of this primary production to higher trophic levels. Therefore, these are areas of significant biological activity, which, for their limited areal extent, are disproportionately important to biological dynamics. Challenges to understanding bio-physical interactions within these structures include separating the effects of several concurrent processes - horizontal advection, vertical motion, local growth and decay, loss, etc. and sampling relevant processes at appropriate scales. To mitigate these challenges, an integrated Eulerian-Lagrangian approach was undertaken during a field experiment off the coast of Delaware, USA (April 26 to May 9, 2018).
The Lagrangian part of this approach involved the deployment of a free-drifting Wirewalker profiling platform instrumented with various ocean sensors. Profiles of temperature and salinity were measured concurrently with oxygen, nitrate, fluorescence, backscatter, downwelling irradiance, and high frequency acoustics. These measurements were augmented/ground-truthed via ship based measurements (water samples, net samples, and various over-the-side optical and acoustic instrumentation), moorings, an autonomous glider, and a towed ISIIS (in situ ichthyoplankton imaging system) supplemented with bio-optical sensors. This poster will focus on the configuration of the drifter system and present preliminary data from the various sensors.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMOS21F1619P
- Keywords:
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- 4899 General or miscellaneous;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL