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

PI请求MRI RAPID资助收购YSI， Inc.。便携式Seakeeper，这是一个完全包含和自动化的航行采样系统。YSI便携式Seakeeper具有集成的差分GPS，用于地理参考水采样和以下传感器功能：Turner Designs C3带有原油传感器；光学溶解氧；温度;电导率;浊度;叶绿素荧光;pH值;还有蓝绿藻。该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；近地表烃溶质时空分布的局地强迫和远地强迫特征相对于局地强迫和远地强迫估算烃溶质在河口的停留时间；并建立了近地表碳氢化合物与水化学的本构关系。调查共进行36次，共绘制144个样条。这些调查将在河口的补充项目中得到加强，这些项目将描述船舶通道对水下碳氢化合物的分层和运输的作用，并评估底栖生物和远洋物种对石油泄漏的生物反应。更广泛的影响所要求的仪器主要用于现场，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，让本科生和研究生在回答特定科学问题的背景下接触最先进的仪器，数据收集和数据分析。本科生和研究生，其中许多来自代表性不足的人口，将有机会将科学方法应用于具有当地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，该研究所创造的知识将通过流动地区教育基金会（MAEF）加强莫比尔县小学、初中和高中学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).