Deliberate Tracer Injections of Sulfur Hexafluoride on the West Florida Shelf in Support of: An AUV-based Investigation of the Role of Nutrient Variability in the Predictive Modeling of Physical Processes in the Littoral Ocean.

摘要

The overall goal of this project is to quantify advection and dispersion of waters on coastal shelves over several week's duration by following a deliberately tagged water mass. Monitoring the tagged water mass shows the unique dispersion mechanisms and pathways of transport in the coastal environment. Using the ratio of (biologically) reactive property to inert tracer concentration allows us to quantify biogeochemical transformation rates in situ in energetic environments such as the coastal seas. The work is performed with the inert gaseous tracer, sulfur hexafluoride and it includes development of sampling methods to characterize the tracer field with high spatial and temporal resolution in near real-time.