HR: 14:30h
AN: U23B-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Continuous in-situ Measurements of Nutrient Fluxes Within a Physically Complex Coastal Environment
AU: * Needoba, J
EM: needoba@mbari.org
AF: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039 United States
AU: Nidzieko, N
EM: nidzieko@stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Wankel, S
EM: sdwankel@usgs.gov
AF: Stanford University, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences 055 Green Earth Sciences Building, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Monismith, S G
EM: monismith@stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Paytan, A
EM: apaytan@pangea.stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences 207 Braun, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Johnson, K S
EM: johnson@mbari.org
AF: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039 United States
AB: Accurate measurements of nutrient fluxes within and through coastal aquatic systems are difficult to achieve by traditional sampling methods due to small-scale complexity and undersampling on both spatial and temporal scales. These issues are compounded by the influence of numerous end member sources or transformation processes, which can be highly variable and uncoupled from each other. In-situ nutrient sensors allow for high-resolution observations and provide the opportunity to monitor nutrient fluxes on a continuous basis. We have developed a coastal observatory system in Elkhorn Slough, California that allows for continuous monitoring of nutrient fluxes through the environment by combining nitrate, salinity, and temperature measurements with Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler estimates of water velocity. By calibrating the moored instruments with cross channel surveys, we are able to make estimates of nitrate fluxes that account for tidal mixing, seasonal nutrient inputs, and chemical transformations within the estuarine system. We will present results from one seasonal cycle of an ongoing project that demonstrate the significant advantages gained by the observatory network to measure nutrient fluxes in an estuarine environment.
DE: 4235 Estuarine processes
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles (1615)
DE: 4845 Nutrients and nutrient cycling
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly