RUI: Experimental Seawater Laboratory at the Coastal Studies Center, Bowdoin College

RUI：鲍登学院沿海研究中心的实验海水实验室

• 批准号: 1522545
• 负责人: David Carlon
• 金额: $ 21.44万
• 依托单位: Bowdoin College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1522545&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Experimental; Seawater; Laboratory; Coastal

The Bowdoin College Coastal Studies Center (http://www.bowdoin.edu/coastal-studies-center/) is awarded a grant to expand the capabilities of an existing flowing seawater system so that climate variables can be independently manipulated in experimental aquaria. The Coastal Studies Center (CSC) on Orr's Island in mid-Coast Maine, is an educational and research laboratory serving Bowdoin College and visiting students and researchers. The CSC has a sentinel position at the southern boundary of the Gulf of Maine, a cold-water boundary that is moving northward as the Earth's climate warms. Further, the once highly productive Gulf of Maine faces other synergistic impacts including overfishing and invasive species that are changing the structure and function of kelp forests, the rocky intertidal, seagrass beds, and salt marshes. While several research-focused marine laboratories rim the Gulf of Maine, the CSC is a unique RUI focused center that is focused on facilitating undergraduate engagement on the problems of a rapidly changing ocean. This project improves the RUI capabilities of Bowdoin College, which has significantly increased female and minority enrollment over the last ten years. The new experimental seawater capabilities are also likely to attract new visiting students and faculty, expanding the CSC research community. Finally, the improvements will allow increased experimentation and monitoring of estuarine systems. Estuaries support high biological productivity, yet they also experience stronger and more variable impacts of ocean acidity than the open ocean due to the reduced buffering capacity of freshwater inputs and high biological contributions of carbon dioxide. A new cluster of sensors will sample key climate change variables (including crucial pCO2) in Harpswell Sound and stream this data to Internet portals year round, providing a much-needed estuarine node in the Gulf of Maine. The project has two major elements: 1. building four experimental seawater modules that will independently control temperature, oxygen levels, pH, and sterilize effluent; and 2. constructing a pier-mounted instrument array to continuously monitor climatic variables. Element 1 includes a seawater cooling system that combines an external centralized chilling unit with four independent chilled water loops (modules) that can cool 400 gallons of seawater from summer ambient temperatures to 4 degrees Celsius. Additionally, each module will be fitted with the plumbing, controls, and sensors to manipulate dissolved oxygen levels and pH via addition of nitrogen and carbon dioxide gasses respectively. An inline UV filter system will be added for experimental applications that culture non-native organisms and require effluent sterilization. Element 2 will install a pier-based environmental monitoring platform, that will stream temperature, salinity, pH, and pCO2 data to a global research community 365 days a year. This new monitoring location in Harpswell Sound will provide key environmental data on how estuarine marine systems are responding to climate change, and provide essential data for parameterizing climate change experiments.

鲍登学院海岸研究中心（http：//www.bowdoin.edu/coastal-studies-center/）获得了一笔赠款，用于扩大现有流动海水系统的能力，以便在实验水族馆中独立操纵气候变量。海岸研究中心（CSC）奥尔岛在中部海岸缅因州，是一个教育和研究实验室服务鲍登学院和访问学生和研究人员。CSC在缅因州湾的南部边界有一个哨兵位置，这是一个随着地球气候变暖而向北移动的冷水边界。此外，曾经高产的缅因州湾还面临着其他协同影响，包括过度捕捞和入侵物种，这些物种正在改变海带森林、岩石潮间带、海草床和盐沼的结构和功能。虽然有几个以研究为重点的海洋实验室环绕着缅因州湾，但CSC是一个独特的以RUI为重点的中心，专注于促进本科生参与快速变化的海洋问题。该项目提高了鲍登学院的RUI能力，在过去十年中，该学院显著增加了女性和少数民族的入学率。新的实验海水能力也可能吸引新的访问学生和教师，扩大CSC研究社区。最后，这些改进将允许增加河口系统的实验和监测。河口支持高生物生产力，但由于淡水输入的缓冲能力降低和二氧化碳的高生物贡献，它们也比开阔洋受到更强和更多变的海洋酸度影响。一个新的传感器集群将对哈普斯韦尔湾的关键气候变化变量（包括至关重要的二氧化碳分压）进行采样，并将这些数据全年传输到互联网门户网站，为缅因州湾提供一个急需的河口节点。该项目有两个主要内容：1。建造四个实验海水模块，独立控制温度，氧气水平，pH值和消毒污水; 2.建造一个安装在码头上的仪器阵列，以连续监测气候变量。元件1包括海水冷却系统，该系统将外部集中式制冷单元与四个独立的冷冻水回路（模块）相结合，可以将400加仑的海水从夏季环境温度冷却到4摄氏度。此外，每个模块将配备管道、控制器和传感器，以分别通过添加氮气和二氧化碳气体来控制溶解氧水平和pH值。将增加一个在线紫外线过滤系统，用于培养非本地生物并需要污水灭菌的实验应用。第二单元将安装一个基于码头的环境监测平台，该平台将每年365天向全球研究界提供温度、盐度、pH值和pCO 2数据。这个位于Harpswell Sound的新监测点将提供关于河口海洋系统如何应对气候变化的关键环境数据，并为气候变化实验参数化提供必要数据。