Project Information

Title: SEA: Physical Oceanography in PWS and GOA 94320-M

Project Year and Number: 1994: 94320-M

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 1999: 99320-M-CLO, 1998: 98320-M, 1997: 97320-M, 1996: 96320-M, 1995: 95320-M

Principal Investigator (PI): David Salmon (Prince William Sound Science Center )

Managing Agency: ADFG

Assisting Personnel: Shelton Gay, Jim Murphy, Thea Thomas

Research Location: PWS/KAP

Restoration Category: Research

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract: This project is a component of the Sound Ecosystem Assessment (SEA) program, a multi-disciplinary effort to acquire an ecosystem level understanding of the marine and freshwater processes that interact to constrain levels of fish, marine bird, and marine mammal production in Prince William Sound (PWS). The growth conditions and carrying capacity of the coastal marine ecosystem in this region vary internally, and are influenced by the physical, chemical, and biological process in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This component of the SEA program will study the physical oceanography and meteorology of PWS and the GOA to contribute to the understanding of important ecological influences on injured resources and services following the EVOS. Information gathered will consist of temperature, salinity, density and dissolved oxygen profiles obtained from conductivity/temperature/depth (CTD) measurements, ocean current velocities obtained from acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements, geopotential dynamic heights, measurements of zooplankton distribution and abundance, and chemical signatures. Both chemical and biological data will be used in the determination of how physical processes in PWS act to control the fluctuations of ecological populations.


Proposal: Not Available

Reports:
Final Report: View (4,506 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available

Datasets:
EVOSTC Data Archive: The oceanographic variables collected by this project include hydrographic temperature and salinity as well as ocean currents vectors in Prince William Sound and adjacent Gulf of Alaska. Temperature and salinity measurements are recorded with CTD at standard SEA stations and ocean current measurements are collected with moored and towed Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers. Hydrographic; temperature and salinity as a function of depth at station shown. Moored ADCP: time series of velocity at one location in Hinchinbrook Entrance. Towed ADCP: transects of horizontal velocity at various locations in PWS. Towed OPC: Optical plankton counter data for various transects in PWS. Reports and ASCII files Availability: Available to collaborating researchers and managers and through the scheduled release of the SEA database.