Collaborative Research-BES: FerryMon, unattended water quality monitoring for large estuarine ecosystems utilizing advanced environmental sensing

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0606940RichardsonThis project describes a test-bed environmental observatory program that involves collection of continuous water-quality data capitalizing on regular ferry crossings in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. FerryMon was instituted around 2000 in response to major tropical storm systems that had caused massive flood and water-quality problems on the NC coast. Since its inception, the basic data-gathering program has been supported by state and local agencies. This project provides funds to: (1) equip FerryMon for rapid water quality assessment following major hydrological and other disturbances and (2) develop and perform data management schemes for the large data sets obtained from continuous monitoring. In light of projected increases in tropical storm activity, with implications for coastal water quality, FerryMon and like programs are potentially valuable assets for coastal environmental observatories. This test-bed project builds upon an existing research program that will help distinguish the roles of nutrient loading and climatic drivers of algal blooms in the estuary and bay. Instrumentation to be installed on the ferries and a buoy represents cutting-edge technology to measure hydrodynamic conditions in the shallow estuary and determine algal pigment composition. The latter will help to identify major classes of algae, including those considered harmful and toxic. The PIs have been leaders in the development of this kind of environmental observatory, and the test bed will provide potential links to operational observatory efforts such as IOOS. Education impacts are targeted at graduate, undergraduate, and high school aged students, and substantial student involvement is proposed, including undergraduates from groups traditionally under-represented in science. Posters and pamphlets will be prepared about the FerryMon program, displayed on a ferry, and distributed to teachers.