Equipment
The Water Institute of the Gulf has capabilities to undertake a wide range of boat-based and fixed station observational studies of riverine, deltaic, coastal, and continental shelf environments, as well as a range of ecological measurements in emergent marsh and submerged habitats. This work requires a diverse suite of instrumentation, boats, and vehicles to work in these complex and highly dynamic environments.
Field
Boats
- R/V Itasca
- 25-foot Scully's aluminum workboat with cabin and davit arm, 2x 115 HP Honda outboard motors
- R/V Silver Mullet
- 20-foot Scully's aluminum shallow draft hull with hard T-top and davit arm, 1x 150 HP Yamaha outboard motor
Bathymetry/ Topography/ Elevation/ Navigation:
- Reson Seabat 7125 Multibeam
- R2 Sonic 2020 Multibeam
- Ohmex Sonarmite Single Beam
- Trimble R8 dual frequency survey grade GPS system with Real Time Kinematic (RTK) capability
- MDL Dynascan M150 LiDAR
- Applanix POS MV inertial navigation system
Current and Wave Meters:
- Teledyne RDI Workhorse Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) (2)
- Sontek Triton Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) (1)
- Sontek SL500 Horizontal ADCP (HADCP) (3)
- Nortek Aquadopp current profilers with wave capability (3)
- RBR
Hydrological and Water Quality Measurements:
- Xylem EXO2 YSIs with temperature, conductivity, depth, pH, turbidity (11), and also chlorophyllα, dissolved oxygen (5)
- Seabird SBE 19plus Profiler Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) with pH, turbidity, optical backscatter, and transmissometer
- LICOR PAR sensor
- Secchi disk
- Surface (Nalgene bottles) and subsurface water sampling (Van Dorn water sampler)
- RBR sensors
- RBR Solo, water level and waves (6)
- RBR Duo, water level, waves, and turbidity (6)
Suspended, Bed surface, and Subsurface Sediment Sampling:
- Sequoia Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry (LISST) 100-X (3)
- Automated water samplers
- Campbell Scientific PVS 5120D (2)
- Teledyne ISCO 6712 (1)
- Isokinetic water samplers
- USGS FISP P-72
- Carnet Technologies P-6-200
- Shipek benthic surface sediment grab sampler
- Mooring Systems, Inc gravity corer
- Piston corer for sediment sampling
Geotechnical
- Geovane soil shear strength
Fauna sampling
- Throw trap for nekton sampling
- Suction sampler for nekton sampling (Honda water pump, pump hoses, and barrels)
Flora sampling
- Quadrat sampling for vegetation/infauna
Laboratory
Equipment
- Balance
- Calipers
- Drying ovens
- Refrigerators
- Freezers
- Grinding and processing facilities
- Genesys 20 Spectrophotometer
- Muffle furnace
Analyses
- Phosphorus (sediment and water)
- Porewater ammonium
- Chlorophyll α (sediment and water)
- Sediment grain size
- Sediment organic matter (LOI), % carbonates
- Vegetation aboveground and belowground biomass
- Fauna biomass
- Fish and macroinvertebrate species identification
- Sample preparation for tissue nutrients
- Acid washing