Southeast Alaska Network Oceanographic Monitoring
Murdoch C. Southeast Alaska Network Oceanographic Monitoring. 1993. National Park Service
SEAN physical oceanography monitoring program for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The oceanography program’s 22 stations span the length of Glacier Bay proper, from just outside the mouth of the Bay to the heads of both the East and West Arms. Generally mid-channel and equidistant, stations capture a range of depths from shallow sills to deep basins, and are located along the gradient from tidewater glaciers and turbid outwash streams to source waters at Icy Strait. Seven core stations are sampled on nine cruises per year to allow description of intra-annual variation, and all 22 stations are occupied during two of these cruises (July and winter) to allow description of inter-annual variation. This sampling design also allows us to detect long-term seasonal and annual trends, and to describe the current year in a historical context. We measure standard oceanographic parameters throughout the water column: temperature, salinity, pressure, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), optical backscatterance (OBS – turbidity), dissolved oxygen, and fluorescence (proxy for chlorophyll-a concentration, an index of primary productivity). The scope and methods are fully explained in the formal monitoring protocol. The monitoring program was initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1993 and co-operated each year by USGS and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve through 2008. In 2009, NPS took on full responsibility for the program. That year, the Southeast Alaska Network initiated a comprehensive update of the program, following recommendations from a 2006 program review, peer-reviewed analyses of the Glacier Bay data, and input from staff at USGS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and several universities. The update resulted in retention of most stations, the addition of one new station, and a temporal shift of the sampling effort away from a quarterly cruise schedule. SEAN also rebuilt the data processing and management system to meet NPS I&M standards and to ensure that all products – from raw and validated field data through the protocol and synthesis reports – are fully validated and web accessible.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Murdoch, Craig
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GLBA
- Keywords
- Alaska, chlorophyll-a, CTD, fluorometer, Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Park, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, GLBA, Icy Strait, Monitoring, OBS, Oceans, PAR, photic depth, photosynthetically available radiation, physical oceanography, Pressure, Salinity, SEAN, sigma-t, Southeast Alaska Network, Temperature, Turbidity
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Hydrology | Marine Hydrology
Program
Products
- Glacier Bay oceanography monitoring protocols as defined and revised over the life of the program (OC_I)
- Southeast Alaska Network oceanographic monitoring program permits
- Glacier Bay oceanography resource brief
- Glacier Bay oceanography instrument CON calibration files (OC_A)
- Glacier Bay oceanography raw data hex files (OC_B) collection
- Glacier Bay oceanography processed CNV data files (OC_C) collection
- Glacier Bay Cumulative Oceanographic Monitoring Database (OC_D)
- Glacier Bay oceanography instrument calibration certificates (OC_G)
- Glacier Bay oceanography field log sheets (OC_H)
- Glacier Bay collection of oceanography data quality evaluations (OC_M)
- Southeast Alaska Network oceanographic monitoring program annual reports and updates (OC_K) collection
- Glacier Bay oceanography periodic trend reports (OC_L)
- Glacier Bay Cumulative Oceanographic Monitoring Database NODC copy (OC_F)
- Creation of Glacier Bay oceanographic information products defined in protocol OC-2010.1 using legacy data covering 1993 through 2008: methods, quality levels, and exceptions
- Oceanographic assessment of the outer coastal region between Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks and Preserves