Project Summary
Peter H. Wiebe and Timothy Stanton
U. S. GLOBEC: Broad-scale Patterns of the Distribution
of Zooplankton
and Nekton in
relation to micro- to coarse-scale physical structure in the Georges
Bank Region
As part of the U.S. GLOBEC NW Atlantic/Georges Bank study, we will use
high frequency acoustics to study the relationship between the
distribution of zooplankton and nekton populations on Georges Bank and
the physical environment. The work will be a continuation the acoustic
survey work that has been conducted on previous broad-scale cruises of
the entire Bank. The work will take place on three of the six
broad-scale cruises in 1999 (January, March, June) with the Greene
Bomber equipped with 2 frequencies and an Environmental Sensing System
which includes(temperature, conductivity, pressure, fluorescence, and
downwelling light). The two-frequency system containing split-beam
technology will provide high spatial resolution estimates of volume
backscattering and target strength of plankton and nekton throughout the
Georges Bank region. These data together with theoretical models will
be used to interpret the acoustical data in terms of meaningful
biological properties, such as biomass and size distribution. The
physical sensors will provide the information about fine- to coarse-
scale surface physical structure of the Bank environment. The
broad-scale acoustical spatial maps will provide detailed information
about location and structure of frontal features on the Bank and will
enable the linkage between the physical oceanographic conditions on the
Bank and the biological distributions of the species throughout the
Georges Bank region.