Prince William Sound Field Experiment

why care about nearshore ocean condtiions?

Nearshore moorings will provide us with better information of the spatial and temporal variability of ocean water in the nearshore zones of the Sound. This information will then enable us to improve ocean dynamics and weather forecast models.

Nearshore Moorings

Principal Investigator:
Rob Campbell, Prince William Sound Science Center

Moored instruments are anchored to the ocean floor. This prevents the instruments from drifting in currents, and enables them to take measurements repeatedly at the same location.

Moorings in the Sound

Moorings are often equipped to measure temperature, salinity, and current velocity. The Prince William Sound Observing System employs nearshore moorings as well as ocean moorings.

Nearshore moorings to date

A pilot mooring has been installed on an existing oil spill response buoy adjacent and approximately 1 km offshore from a salmon hatchery. Instruments on the mooring measure temperature, conductivity, fluorescence, turbidity; a data logger records measurements. A solar panel and antenna keep the batteries charged. Data are made available to AOOS via the Internet.

What’s next

The moorings will also provide water quality data for assimilation into the ROMS model. Nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton (NPZ) modeling and hatchery management will be further beneficiaries of the data. The mooring will stay in place for up to one year. The team proposes to deploy two additional units in 2008 and another two in 2009 in preparation for the 2009 field experiment.