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RV Prince Madog PD16/05

Cruise summary report

Cruise Info. 
Ship name (ship code)RV Prince Madog (74P2)
Cruise identifierPD16/05
Cruise period2005-04-29 — 2005-05-05
StatusCompleted
Port of departureMenai Bridge, United Kingdom
Port of returnMenai Bridge, United Kingdom
PurposeResearch
ObjectivesThe Bristol Channel is interesting for remote sensing applications as it covers a marked transition from sediment dominated waters associated with the Severn Estuary to relatively clear waters of the Celtic Sea. Ocean colour images consistently indicate spuriously high levels of chlorophyll which are most likely a result of the failure of standard processing algorithms for waters with high levels of mineral particulates.

This makes the area an ideal region for investigating the performance of such algorithms, and for generating a set of inherent and apparent optical properties which can be used to develop new regional specific algorithms.

A review of the literature indicates that, despite the interesting characteristics mentioned above, very little work of this nature has taken place in this area since the early 1970s, during which time instrumentation and modelling techniques have changed dramatically.

The purpose of this cruise was to generate a set of inherent and apparent optical properties with associated biogeochemistry that could be used to validate remote sensing imagery of the region and to construct realistic radiance transfer models for new algorithm development. A range of optical sensors were deployed at each station and surface water samples were taken for chemical and optical analysis.
Chief scientistDavid McKee (University of Strathclyde, Department of Physics)
Ocean/sea areas 
GeneralIrish Sea and St. George's Channel
Bristol Channel
Track chartsRV Prince Madog PD16/05 cruise track — pd16_05trkroscop4728.pdf (0.08 MB) 
Measurements 
Physical oceanography 
CTD stationsQuantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Seabird SBE 19 Plus CTD profiles
Optics (eg underwater light levels)Quantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Satlantic HyperPro Surface Ed and Lu time series
Optics (eg underwater light levels)Quantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Trios RAMSES Underwater Ed, Eu, Eod and Lu profiles
Optics (eg underwater light levels)Quantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Hobilabs Hydroscat-2 Backscattering profiles
Optics (eg underwater light levels)Quantity: number of stations = 30
Description: Satlantic SPMR Ed and Lu profiles
Optics (eg underwater light levels)Quantity: number of stations = 32
Description: WetLabs AC-9 Absorption and Attenuation profiles
Contamination 
Suspended matterQuantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Suspended Matter Concentration
Other dissolved substancesQuantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Coloured Dissolved Organic Material Absorption
Biology and fisheries 
Phytoplankton pigs (eg chlorophyll, fluorescence)Quantity: number of stations = 32
Description: Phytoplankton Pigments -Spectrophotometric Method