Synoptic Shipboard Surveys
Bay-wide and regional shipboard surveys are a primary component of AOML SFP
field operations. These synoptic interdisciplinary oceanographic research
cruises are conducted on a regular basis (currently bimonthly) and have been
since the project's implementation in the mid 1990's.
Due to the shallow depths found in Biscayne and Florida Bays, a shoal draft, 23 foot catamaran was developed for the program. In addition to its use as a platform for discrete sampling, this small boat, the R/V Virginia K, is equipped with a pumped flow-through system more commonly found on larger research vessels. This strained and debubbled underway water sampling system includes a thermosalinograph (temperature and salinity), chlorophyll (chl_a) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorometers, and a transmissometer. Conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) casts, surface net tows, and hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (SADCP) measurements can also be conducted from the vessel.
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AOML SFP regional surveys over the southwest Florida shelf and the Florida Keys reef tract are routinely performed via the University of Miami's R/V F. G. Walton Smith on a bimonthly basis. Sampling methodologies similar to those utilized on AOML SFP bay surveys (discrete sampling and flow-through measurements) are employed on these regional research cruises.
AOML SFP Bay-Wide and Regional Surface Maps:
Maps of surface fields (discrete and continuous) observed during AOML SFP synoptic surveys are available below.
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AOML SFP Bay-Wide and Regional Survey Data Sets:
AOML SFP shipboard data sets are freely available for academic, research,
or professional purposes.
Download the bay-wide and regional
data sets below (.xls format).