Equipment

The Water Institute of the Gulf has capabilities to undertake a wide range of boat-based and fixed station observational studies of riverine, deltaic, coastal, and continental shelf environments, as well as a range of ecological measurements in emergent marsh and submerged habitats. This work requires a diverse suite of instrumentation, boats, and vehicles to work in these complex and highly dynamic environments.

Field

Boats

  • R/V Itasca
    • 25-foot Scully's aluminum workboat with cabin and davit arm, 2x 115 HP Honda outboard motors
  • R/V Silver Mullet
    • 20-foot Scully's aluminum shallow draft hull with hard T-top and davit arm, 1x 150 HP Yamaha outboard motor

Bathymetry/ Topography/ Elevation/ Navigation:

  • Reson Seabat 7125 Multibeam
  • R2 Sonic 2020 Multibeam
  • Ohmex Sonarmite Single Beam
  • Trimble R8 dual frequency survey grade GPS system with Real Time Kinematic (RTK) capability
  • MDL Dynascan M150 LiDAR
  • Applanix POS MV inertial navigation system
  • Trimble MPS865

Current and Wave Meters:

  • Sontek SL500 Horizontal ADCP (HADCP) (2)
  • Nortek Aquadopp current profilers with wave capability (2)
  • RBR solo (5)
  • Nortek Vector (Velocimeter)
  • Nortek Vectrino (Velocimeter)

Hydrological and Water Quality Measurements:

  • Xylem EXO2 YSIs with temperature, conductivity, depth, pH, turbidity, and also chlorophyll α, dissolved oxygen
  • LICOR PAR sensor
  • Secchi disk
  • Surface (Nalgene bottles) and subsurface water sampling (Van Dorn water sampler)
  • RBR sensors
    • RBR Solo, water level and waves (6)
    • RBR Duo, water level, waves, and turbidity (6)

Suspended, Bed surface, and Subsurface Sediment Sampling:

  • Sequoia Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry (LISST) 100-X (2)
  • Automated water samplers
    • Campbell Scientific PVS 5120D (2)
  • Piston corer for sediment sampling

Geotechnical

  • Geovane soil shear strength

Fauna sampling

  • Throw trap for nekton sampling
  • Suction sampler for nekton sampling (Honda water pump, pump hoses, and barrels)

Flora sampling

  • Quadrat sampling for vegetation/infauna

Laboratory

Equipment

  • Balance
  • Calipers
  • Drying ovens
  • Refrigerators
  • Freezers
  • Grinding and processing facilities
  • Genesys 20 Spectrophotometer
  • Muffle furnace

Analyses

  • Phosphorus (sediment and water)
  • Porewater ammonium
  • Chlorophyll α (sediment and water)
  • Sediment grain size
  • Sediment organic matter (LOI), % carbonates
  • Vegetation aboveground and belowground biomass
  • Fauna biomass
  • Fish and macroinvertebrate species identification
  • Sample preparation for tissue nutrients
  • Acid washing