Cruise Results : NOAA Fisheries Research Vessel Delaware II, Cruise No. DE 09-11, Ecosystems Monitoring Survey and NASA Ground Truth Measurements

The cruise period was 3 to 20 November 2009. The original cruise plan called for 2 to 20 November but the first day of the cruise was lost due to bad weather and scientific equipment preparation. Three additional days were lost on November 13, 14 and 15 due to bad weather and the loss of a porthole from a large wave striking the starboard side of the vessel. The NOAA fisheries research vessel Delaware II sampled at a total of 108 stations, with only partial coverage of the Gulf of Maine. Of these, 17 were located in the Gulf of Maine (GOM), 28 were located on Georges Bank (GB), 34 were in the Southern New England (SNE) area, and 29 were in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) region. This cruise was the second in a series of multiple-objective cruises that are going to be done in collaboration with NASA and Old Dominion University. As always, the primary objective of the cruise was to assess changing biological and physical properties that influence the sustainable productivity of the living marine resources of the northeast continental shelf ecosystem. Key parameters measured for the Ecosystem Monitoring Program included ichthyoplankton and zooplankton composition, abundance and distribution, plus water column temperature and salinity. However, we worked with our colleagues from NASA and Old Dominion University to enhance the application of ocean color remote sensing to coastal ecosystems by “ground truthing” SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua data with ship-based water column measurements. This field data was also used to derive region-independent ocean color algorithms for primary productivity, particulate organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon. 2010 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) Submitted Public Domain 1930