MRI RAPID: Acquisition of a Water Quality Sonde to Measure Near-Surface Hydrocarbon Concentrations and Water Quality Indicators in Mobile Bay

PI要求核磁共振快速融资以收购YSI，Inc.便携式海员，这是一个完全受控的自动化正在进行的采样系统。YSI便携式海洋保管器具有集成的差分GPS，可用于地理基准水样采样，并具有以下传感器功能：Turner设计的C3原油传感器；光学溶解氧；温度；电导率；浊度；叶绿素荧光；pH；以及蓝藻。拟议的仪器将提供一个机会：测量河口近地表碳氢化合物溶质和相关水质指标的时空分布；表征本地和远程强迫对近地表碳氢化合物溶质时空分布的调制；估计相对于本地和远程强迫的碳氢化合物在河口的停留时间；并阐明近地表碳氢化合物与水化学之间的本构关系。总共将进行36次调查，共产生144个横断面。这些调查将通过在河口的免费项目得到补充，这些项目将描述航道在水下碳氢化合物分层和运输中的作用，并评估哨兵、海底和远洋物种对石油泄漏的生物反应。广泛影响所要求的仪器将主要用于现场，但它也将用于南阿拉巴马大学土木工程系的环境水化学实验室，使本科生和研究生接触到最先进的仪器、数据收集和数据分析，以回答特定的科学问题。本科生和研究生--其中许多人来自代表性不足的人群--都将有机会将科学方法应用于具有地方意义的独特和动态问题，从而加深他们在STEM课程中的经验。此外，拟议研究创造的知识将通过流动地区教育基金会(MAEF)加强莫比尔小学生、初中生和高中生的课程开发和丰富。

The PI requests MRI RAPID funding to acquire an YSI, Inc. Portable Seakeeper, which is a fully contained and automated underway sampling system. The YSI Portable Seakeeper has an integrated differential GPS for geo-referenced water sampling and the following sensor capabilities: Turner Designs C3 with crude oil sensor; optical dissolved oxygen; temperature; conductivity; turbidity; chlorophyll fluorescence; pH; and blue-green algae. The proposed instrument will provide an opportunity to: measure the spatial and temporal distributions of near-surface hydrocarbon solute and associated water quality indicators in the estuary; characterize the modulation of spatio-temporal distributions of near-surface hydrocarbon solute by local and remote forcing; estimate the residence times of hydrocarbon solute in the estuary relative to local and remote forcing; and formulate the constitutive relationships between near-surface hydrocarbons and water chemistry. A total of 36 surveys will be conducted, yielding a total of 144 transects. These surveys will be augmented by complimentary projects in the estuary that will describe the role of the ship channel on stratification and transport of submerged hydrocarbons and evaluate biological responses by sentinel benthic and pelagic species to the oil spill.Broader ImpactsThe requested instrument is to be used primarily in the field, but it will also be used in the University Of South Alabama Department Of Civil Engineering's environmental water chemistry laboratory to expose undergraduate and graduate students to state-of-the-art instrumentation, data collection, and data analysis in the context of answering specific scientific questions. Both undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom come from underrepresented populations, will have an opportunity to apply the scientific method to a unique and dynamic problem of local significance, thereby deepening their experience in the STEM curricula. In addition, knowledge created by the proposed research will enhance the curriculum development and enrichment of elementary, middle, and high school students inMobile County through the Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF).