Bio-physical Interactions in Ocean Margin Ecosystems (BIOME): understanding coastal dynamics in the Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

Coastal regions within the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) are significantly influenced by regional freshwater fluxes emanating from several large bay systems, most notably the Hudson-Raritan river systems, the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. The outflows from these bays have high sediment loads and high levels of nutrients, particulate and dissolved organic matter (POM and DOM) associated with them which strongly influence the adjacent coastal margin ecosystems. Our research and observational effort includes the development and deployment of an observing system aimed at characterizing and monitoring the influence of the Chesapeake Bay on the adjacent coastal ocean margin ecosystem. A primary focus of this effort is to develop and apply state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies to support research, observation, monitoring, and management applications in the coastal ocean. We have developed a program that addresses coastal spatial and temporal scales. Our observing system consists of four components including 1) High Frequency (HF) Radar: 3 long-range HF Radar systems for mapping coastal ocean surface currents along Delmarva and 2 standard-range systems for the Chesapeake Bay mouth region, 2) a Coastal Ocean Bio-optical buoY (COBY), which will be deployed southeast of the Maryland-Virginia border at about 40m water depth, and will be instrumented with an above-water spectroradiometer (19 channel UV-VIS-NIR, 10nm BW, sea- and sky-viewing radiometers plus solar reference) on a robotic arm to measure water-leaving radiances, meteorological package, in-water mooring instruments with ADCP, CTD, nitrate sensor, ac-9, ac-s, and fluorometers for chlorophyll, colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and phycoerythrin detection; 3) seasonal cruises in the Mid-Atlantic Bight collecting optical, biological, and chemical data; and 4) the Ocean-Atmosphere Sensor Integration System (OASIS), which is comprised of a fleet (6-12) of solar-powered surface autonomous vehicles deployed offshore to measure surface ocean currents, meteorological measurements, surface ocean salinity and temperature, air-sea CO2 fluxes, water-leaving radiances, chlorophyll and CDOM fluorescence, HAB detection, etc. The HF radars, COBY and OASIS are being deployed this summer, with plans for a fully deployed observing system by the end of 2005 or early 2006.