Dataset Submitted

Eastern Gulf of Mexico Glider Deployment M66 (07/29/16 – 08/12/16) – Echosounder Water Column Backscatter Intensity

Authors: Chad Lembke, David Mann, Susan Lowerre-Barbieri, Chris Taylor, Steven Murawski
Identified On: Mar 06 2017 20:38 UTC
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7266/n7-9yq5-w169
UDI: FL.x707.000:0003
Project Information

Funded By:
Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program

Funding Cycle:
FLRACEP 1

Research Group:
Demonstration of Fisheries Assessment Applications for Underwater Gliders

Point of Contact

Chad Lembke
University of South Florida / College of Marine Science
clembke@usf.edu

Data Collection Period
2016-07-29
to
2016-08-12
Theme keywords

Underwater glider, Echosounder, Water Column Biomass

Abstract:

A Slocum Glider was deployed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off of Tampa Bay in July and August 2016. As the glider traverses its transit path, it makes measurements at various depths from ~2m to near the seafloor or up to 200m. While the glider is deployed at sea, it surfaces and communicates to an onshore control station at predetermined intervals. A decimated selection of vehicle and science measurement is transmitted during these surface transmissions, and the relevant data becomes available through a USF web site. After the glider’s recovery at the end of the deployment, the complete measurement suite is downloaded from the vehicle and processed, and also becomes available through the USF site as well as a national data archive. The measurements in this data set include echosounder water column backscatter intensity. Other data sets for this deployment include environmental water quality parameters and acoustic tag telemetry detections. The glider was deployed on July 29, 2016 at the 30m isobath. It traversed for a week to the NW before turning around and returning along a similar route to the SE. It was recovered on August 12, 2016 near the deployment site. The intent was for the glider to follow the progression of the Gulfstream Natural Gas Pipeline with the intent of collecting water quality and acoustic data sets.

Suggested Citation:

Chad Lembke, David Mann, Susan Lowerre-Barbieri, Chris Taylor, Steven Murawski. Eastern Gulf of Mexico Glider Deployment M66 (07/29/16 – 08/12/16) – Echosounder Water Column Backscatter Intensity. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/n7-9yq5-w169

Purpose:

Collection of water column biomass using underwater glider.

Data Parameters and Units:

Echosounder water column backscatter intensity, NASC- Nautical Area Scattering Coefficient

Methods:

Based on echosounder results, water column biomass was calculated based the Nautical Area Scattering Coefficient. The NASC calculation is the sum of all backscatter in an ensonified volume (in our case, the watercolumn under the glider (excluding the seabed) along a length of travel (I think 100m?), translated to the surface area sampled (2D). The Nautical Area converts to units of scattering per square nautical mile (instead of per square meter).

Instruments:

ASL Environmental AZFP w/ 200kHz transducer.