An adaptable radio-controlled measuring system for oceanographic research in shallow water

The scientific objective of the system presented in this paper is to conduct in situ measurements of environmental parameters and to support several marine in situ experiments which are carried out in order to investigate the interaction between the sea and the sea bottom in shallow-water ecosystems. Automated in situ measurements are carried out by means of the radio-controlled data acquisition and control system "OBS" which is mounted on an unattended platform in the western Baltic. The shore station, at a distance of about 25 km, is located at the Institute of Applied Physics of Kiel University and is equipped with a central computer for real-time data retrieval and remote programming. Part of the OBS system is a vertical scanning profiling system which provides measurements of temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, scalar irradiance, downwelling and upwelling irradiance, pH, and dissolved oxygen in a water column of about 10-m depth. The vertical resolution is 10 cm. Profiling depth range was automatically determined from the shore by means of an adjustable upper depth limit, in order to protect the probes from surface waves. The research conducted here requires simultaneous measurements of various environmental parameters. This is done by about 20-30 fixed probes mounted on the platform in the air and in the water as well on the sea bottom in the neighborhood of the platform. The radio-controlled data acquisition system serves all probes and samples the sensors repeatedly in time.     

Der Aufwuchs im Längsschnitt der Talsperre Saidenbach

The structure of periphyton or “Aufwuchs” communities is sensitive to environmental conditions. It was proposed that periphyton biomass might similarly reflect differences in measured chemical variables between 5 sampling stations in the Saidenbach reservoir. Longitudinal gradients of periphyton biomass could be shown.     

Accumulation of total CO2 during stagnation in the Baltic Sea deep water and its relationship to nutrient and oxygen concentrations

Accumulation of total CO₂ (C_T) was investigated in the sub-halocline deep water of the Gotland Sea (Baltic Sea) during a period of stagnation from 1995 to 1999. Depth profiles for C_T, nitrate, phosphate, and oxygen were measured during seven cruises in a grid consisting of 26 stations. The mean C_T increased by more than 60 μmol/kg from October 1995 to July 1999 corresponding to a mean accumulation rate of 1.1 mol/m² year. Taking into account vertical mixing, the vertical distribution of the C_T accumulation was used to determine mineralization rates at different depths. High rates immediately below the halocline indicated the existence of a fraction of organic matter, which is rapidly mineralized during sinking through the water column. A second fraction is more refractive and accumulates at the sediment surface in the deep center of the basin where it is slowly mineralized and partly buried. Phosphate release rates in anoxic waters and especially at the redoxcline were substantially higher than those estimated on the basis of the carbon mineralization and the Redfield C/P ratio. This is attributed to non-Redfield mineralization ratios and the dissolution of iron oxide/phosphate associates. The formation of nitrate by mineralization under oxic conditions was almost completely compensated by denitrification. Using the carbon mineralization rates and a C/N ratio of 8.4, a denitrification rate of 280 mmol/m² year was obtained, which approximately balances the input of nitrate/ammonia into the surface water. Relating the apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) to the C_T fraction that was generated by mineralization yielded a carbon mineralization/O₂ consumption ratio of 0.83.