9 / 44
Ref. No. [UMCES] CBL 2017-050
ACT VS17-05
9
Estuarine deployment
: The estuarine deployment occurred at the research pier of the Chesapeake
Biological Laboratory in Solomons, MD for three month duration and provided for variable
salinity and nutrient levels within a highly productive and biofouling environment. The ACT
Partner at Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL), University of Maryland Center for
Environmental Science, has established a Technology Verification Field Test Site on a fixed pier
(38.32
o
N;76.45
o
W), with an average depth of 2.1 m at the mouth of the Patuxent River, a
tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. The deployment frame was arranged so that all of the sample
inlets for the instruments remain at a fixed depth of 1 m below the water surface using a floating
dock. The Chesapeake is a nutrient rich estuary with a watershed that encompasses portions of six
states and the District of Columbia. Water temperatures at the test site ranged from 20 to 31°C and
salinity ranged from 12.7 to 16.9 psu during the Verification.
Marine deployment
: The marine deployment occurred in Kaneohe Bay at the Hawaii Institute of
Marine Biology field lab for one month duration and provided a full salinity, low nutrient test
condition. The ACT Partner at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) is part of the
University of Hawaii with a field site established on the Kaneohe Bay Barrier Reef flat (21.43
o
N;157.79
o
W) in waters ~16 m deep. The deployment frame was arranged so that all of the sample
inlets for the instruments remain at a fixed depth of 1 m below the water surface using a floating
dock. Kaneohe Bay sits on the northeast, or windward, side of Oahu. Water temperatures at this
site varied between 24.5 and 27.9°C and salinities were between 27.3 and 34.8 psu during the
Verification.
Instrument Setup
- Prior to deployment, all instruments were set up and calibrated as required at
the field sites by a manufacturer representative, with assistance provided by ACT staff as
necessary. The manufacturer supplied or specified to ACT all specific materials and hardware
(chemicals, power cords, cables, weights, etc.) needed to deploy the test instrument according to
requirements defined for each field site. ACT staff worked with the manufacturer to design an
appropriate sensor deployment configuration at each site and arranged instruments in a manner so
that a single representative field sample could be collected without the potential of interference
between instruments. No servicing of the instruments was to occur during the test deployment
period unless observed physical damage had occurred from natural events and a repair or
replacement was deemed necessary.
Instruments were set up as self-recording, either internally or
to an external data logger, and programmed to record data based on a time interval that allowed
instruments to function for the specified number of days for the respective deployment. Specific
sampling intervals varied among test instruments, but with a stated goal of 15 minute sampling
intervals if possible and two-hour intervals at maximum. A sampling schedule was established so
that all instruments being tested at the same time had a common sampling time point at a minimum
frequency of 2 hours. Internal clocks were set to local time and synchronized against the time
standard provided by
www.time.gov.Reference Water Sampling Schedule –
The reference sampling schedule generated between 50 -
100 comparative reference samples and was structured to examine changes in nutrient
concentrations over daily to monthly time scales. Specifically, once each week ACT staff
conducted an intensive sampling event that consisted of four consecutive samples spaced at two-
hour intervals. For the remaining four days of the week, ACT staff sampled once or twice per day,
spaced out to cover early morning and late-afternoon timepoints or anticipated flow or tidal events.
The initial intensive sampling event occurred within the first two days of the deployment after all
instruments had been deployed, and the final intensive sampling event occurred during the last two
days of the deployment.