Hydrographic surveys and sampling

Acquisition of the key hydrographic data, water sample collection and pretreatment (for the analyses of the main physical, chemical and biotic variables).

These activities are mainly carried on board the M / N Vettoria or on other research vessels. Moreover, in absence of suitable support structures, a fully equipped mobile laboratory can be set up, allowing the first processing of samples.

• Continuous acquisition of the key hydrographic variables (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence, transmission, PAR, SPAR and pH) along the water column by means of CTD profiler;
• Use of optical (eg.  Spectroradiometers) and turbulence profilers;
• Collection from Niskin bottles and pretreatment on board of samples for the analyses of the main abiotic and biotic variables:

ü  Inorganic nutrients,

ü  Total and dissolved N and P,

ü  Dissolved oxygen,

ü  Dissolved organic carbon (DOC),

ü  Particulate organic carbon (POC)

ü  Total suspended solids (TSS),

ü  Chlorophyll a and Photosynthetic pigments

ü  Picoplankton and bacteria ( for FCM analysis)

ü  Plankton

• Sampling of plankton through net (phytoplankton, microzooplankton and mesozooplankton).

Equipped research boats

Multi-parametric CTD probes and Automatic sampler

Carousel with 12 Niskin bottles

Optical and turbulence profilers

Fabio Conversano

Tel. + 39 081 5833357

e-mail: fabio.conversano(at)szn.it