The FjordPhyto citizen science project in the Antarctic Peninsula

FjordPhyto, funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2016-2019 and by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program IN 2021, is a citizen science project that examines the impacts of increasing glacier meltwater on local ecosystems at the ice-ocean interface of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), with an emphasis on the western coast (WAP). The citizen science module is based on a collaboration with the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). Citizen scientists participate in a “validation safari” in which satellite data informs sampling to validate and refine a new ocean color algorithm to detect the glacial meltwater content of seawater from space. The in-situ measurements are combined with remote sensing data products to address scientific questions related to the impacts of glacial meltwater on phytoplankton community abundance and taxonomic composition. This project implements new field sampling ..., Samples were collected by the FjordPhyto Citizen Science program (www.fjordphyto.org; Cusick et al. 2020), created in 2016-2017 with tour operator expedition vessel members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) to collect oceanographic data from surface ocean waters. Samples were taken from November to March at numerous locations along the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), mostly in the western side, between King George Island (62° S, 58° W) and Marguerite Bay (near 68° S) with the help of travelers visiting the inshore (< 0.2 km from shore) and nearshore (0.2 to 40 km from shore) regions in the WAP.
Samples were collected from surface waters from an inflatable boat (e.g., a Zodiac) during their visits to the AP, from 2016 to present day, including a CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth sensor) profile between 0 and down to 100m depth, determination of a Secchi depth, surface seawater fixed in Lugol's solution for microscopy analysis, a surface net tow (20-micr..., , # The FjordPhyto Citizen Science Project in the Antarctic Peninsula

\[Access this dataset on Dryad] [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b909](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b909)

## General Information

1. Contact Information

Maria Vernet ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])), Allison Cusick ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])), and Rick A. Reynolds ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])); Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

Martina Mascioni ([[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail]));
Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Project Website: [https://www.fjordphyto.org](https://www.fjordphyto.org)
2. Dates of data collection: 10/2017 - 04/2025
3. Geographic location of data collection: Antarctic Peninsula
4. Funding sources that supported the collection of the data: NASA 80NSSC21K0856, NASA 80NSSC22K1914, NSF PLR-1443705, CONIC..., , **Changes after Feb 7, 2024:** Initial submission of data and metadata for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 field seasons; some corrections made to the SecchiDepths and StationLog files for the 2017-2018 field season

**Changes after Sep 10, 2024:** Initial submission of data and metadata for the 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 field seasons; minor updates to format and changes in data files for the 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 field seasons