Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

We request a portable salinometer and two automatic water samplers to support the integrated Arctic coastal oceanography and climate change research programs of four faculty members in the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CEOS), University of Manitoba (UofM). The research programs span biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and carbon and implications of climate change; air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide as influenced by river inflows to the coastal domain; physical and biological controls of primary production in the Arctic; and seasonal decay and breakup of sea ice. The research programs all draw on new data obtained through intensive field campaigns onboard coastal research vessels and through research collaborations with northern Indigenous communities. A portable salinometer is urgently needed because salinity underpins all other measurements made as part of the research. Three oceanographic field campaigns are planned for 2021 that will require analysis of this most fundamental ocean parameter. Currently, large numbers of salinity samples in glass bottles have to be transported south to UofM and then to labs on either coast resulting in delays in research and loss of training opportunities for our highly qualified personnel (HQP). The automatic water samplers are instruments that can be deployed on taut-line moorings or suspended from sea ice down to depths of 30 m and programmed to collect discrete samples of water at pre-set times. The samplers allow coastal ocean water sampling operations to be extended in frequency (hourly to weekly), and to places (e.g., polynyas) and time periods (e.g., ice melt and breakup) that are inaccessible by any other means and/or cost prohibitive. Many critical gaps remain in our understanding of freshwater, carbon, nutrient, and phytoplankton dynamics in Arctic and sub-Arctic coastal waters because periods of ice breakup and freeze-up are nearly impossible to sample. Data obtained from sensors that can be moored throughout these periods are woefully insufficient for studying biogeochemical processes: for example, even to distinguish the influence of river water vs. sea-ice melt on changes in salinity, discrete water samples obtained with samplers are required. The samplers also allow time-series data for nonconservative elements such as carbon and nitrogen that respond to the dynamic freshwater cycles of coastal areas and undergo modification by biological processes. The salinometer and samplers open up new possibilities that will elevate HQP training. We anticipate that 20 or more HQP will make use of the instruments during the coming three-year period when coastal research expeditions and winter field campaigns are planned. Women and northern Indigenous trainees will be well represented in the training with the instruments, considering strong interest in marine, coastal and aquatic sciences among female students at UofM and strong uptake of our community-based monitoring programs around Hudson Bay.