The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is awarded a grant to purchase a modern conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instrument, sampling rosette, and winch system for the R/V Gulf Challenger. This system will provide a new and essential capacity in support of research and education at three of its marine laboratories, including: (a) the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory on the shores of the Great Bay/Little Bay estuarine system; (b) the Gregg Marine Science Complex, in New Castle, New Hampshire at the confluence of the Piscataqua River and the Gulf of Maine; and (c) the Shoals Marine Laboratory, located on the Isles of Shoals in the Gulf of Maine. The high resolution vertical profiling of hydrographic properties (conductivity, salinity, temperature), physiochemical properties (photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)), and surrogates for biological and geological processes (dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a fluorescence and beam transmittance) that this CTD system will provide is an essential component of oceanographic field work and will immediately impact numerous ongoing studies at UNH. These include research on ocean carbonate chemistry, climate linkages to coastal productivity in the Gulf of Maine, nutrient over-enrichment within the Great Bay Estuary, coastal and ocean mapping, and ocean color satellite remote sensing, as well as support of visiting investigator and student research.
Broader impacts of this project include: (a) supporting the education of over 200 undergraduate and graduate students per year in courses that use the R/V Gulf Challenger; (b) improving the advanced scientific instrumentation available to graduate students pursuing research in the Western Gulf of Maine; (c) enhancing training of undergraduate and high school students undertaking summer courses at the Shoals Marine Laboratory; (d) supporting the training of the 170 UNH Marine Docents and the "K to Gray" educational programs that they provide to hundreds of students annually through New Hampshire Sea Grant; and (e) enhancing public education through experiential "Discovery Cruises" and through the UNH Marine Program's "Know the Coast Day" that impact hundreds of the general public each year.
This project supported the development and fabrication of a modern vertical profiling CTD (Conductivity, Temperature & Depth) System for the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) R/V Gulf Challenger. This system, which includes the CTD, a sampling rosette and dedicated winch system, provides a new and essential capacity in support of research and education at three UNH marine laboratories, including the Jackson Estuarine Laboratory, the Judd Gregg Marine Science Complex, and the Shoals Marine Laboratory. The system provides high resolution vertical profiling of hydrographic properties (e.g. conductivity, salinity, temperature), physiochemical properties (e.g. pH and Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)), and surrogates for biological and geological processes (e.g. dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a fluorescence and beam transmittance) that are an essential component of oceanographic field work and will immediately impact numerous ongoing studies in the Gulf of Maine region. These include research on ocean carbonate chemistry, climate linkages to coastal productivity in the Gulf of Maine, nutrient over-enrichment within the Great Bay Estuary, coastal and ocean mapping, and ocean color satellite remote sensing, as well as broad support of visiting investigator and student research. Specifically, the projects supported the acquisition and integration of a Sea-Bird Electronics (SBE) 25Plus CTD, an SBE-55 water sampler with 6 four-liter Niskin bottles, a Humboldt Industries hydrographic winch with 400m of conducting wire, a scalar PAR sensor on the CTD and a shipboard reference PAR sensor, a Sea-Bird Electronics SBE-33 carousel deck unit supporting the CTD/Water Sampler, a computer system to control the CTD/Water sampler and record and display data, an acoustic altimeter to measure the distance from the sampler to the bottom, and a remote readout from the computer system which will display depth, distance off the bottom, or any parameter programmed into the acquisition software. The SBE-25Plus CTD was populated with sensors to measure the following: temperature, conductivity (salinity), pressure (depth), dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a fluorescence, beam transmission/beam attenuation, scalar PAR, and altitude off of the bottom. The Hawboldt Industries SPR 1424/S Science winch is designed to work with the new CTD/water sampler and is compact, relatively light weight and supplied with mounting feet that are compatible with the R/V Gulf Challenger's deck bolt pattern. The winch has 400 meters of Rochester Corporation 0.322 inch diameter armored coax wire which will allow profiling to the bottom anywhere within the Gulf of Maine (a maximum of 330 m depth). Focal slip-rings on the winch provide a connection from the winch wire to the Sea-Bird carousel deck unit and computer. The new winch, CTD/water sampler and deck unit/computer stem allows researchers to observe the CTD profile data in real time, and trip water sample bottles at optimal depths on the up-cast. The altimeter allow the system to be lowered safely to within 0.5 meter of the bottom without danger of hitting bottom and provides data to the researcher, as well as to the winch operator with a remote readout. A first science cruise was conducted to the UNH Isles of Shoals CO2 buoy at 43.02º N x 70.54º W in 70 m of water on 12 June 2013. This cruise tested the fully configured system and allowed researchers to make calibration profiles and take water samples to validate the moored data and confirmed that the system was ready to be put in service. In addition to supporting ongoing NSF, NOAA and NASA-supported research project, the CTD System is being used to support the education of over 200 undergraduate and graduate students per year in courses that use the R/V Gulf Challenger; improve the advanced scientific instrumentation available to graduate students pursuing research in the Western Gulf of Maine; enhance training of undergraduate and high school students undertaking summer courses at the Shoals Marine Laboratory; support the training of the 170 UNH Marine Docents and the ‘K to Gray’ educational programs that they provide to hundreds of students annually through New Hampshire Sea Grant; and enhance public education through experiential ‘Discovery Cruises’ and through the UNH Marine Program’s ‘Ocean Discovery Days that impact thousands of members of general public each year. All data collected using this system will be made available on publically accessible data servers for research and educational use.
