Project II.5.6: Wecoma & Barnes cruises: 07/10-28 & 07/07-14 ‘08

Project Title: II.5.6 Wecoma & Barnes cruises: 07/10-28 & 07/07-14 ‘08
Project Leads: Byron Crump and Joseph Needoba
Web: http://www.stccmop.org/datamart/cruises

Project Description
This multi-platform campaign targeted fine-scale environmental gradients/events in the Columbia River, estuary, plume and coastal zone including fine-scale spatial and temporal sampling in the estuary to ground-truth SATURN station measurements, and high-resolution sampling of water masses in the coastal zone that were followed with surface drifters for 24-hr periods. We integrated numerical modeling into cruise planning efforts, and applied an adaptive sampling strategy for which we queried these models in near real-time during the cruise to decide on sampling locations/times. We occupied a grid of stations in the Columbia River, Estuary, and Plume, and over the Oregon and Washington continental shelf and slope. We measured hydrographic (T, S, pressure), bio-optical (chlorophyll fluorescence, light transmission) chemical (nitrate, dissolved oxygen) and physical (ADCP subsurface velocity) parameters. We collected samples for DNA- and RNA-based microbial community analyses, primary and secondary production rates and water chemistry across environmental gradients in pelagic environments of the Columbia River, estuary, and plume, and along established sampling lines along the Oregon and Washington coasts. Sediment cores were taken at select sites, and we made continuous measurements of surface water chemistry with several devices attached to the seawater flow-through system.

Fit in program
n/a

Outcomes
Data and cruise report