R/V Wecoma Research Cruise - April 2008

Project Name: II.5.4 Wecoma: 04/10-17 ‘08
Chief Scientist: Lydie Herfort
Research Vessel: R/V Wecoma
Cruise Plan: Download Cruise Plan (.doc)


Project Description
This research cruise targeted the period that precedes the spring freshet in the Columbia River, and it addressed a broad range of research goals ranging from mooring recovery to sediment coring to DNA & RNA sample collection.

We integrated numerical modeling into cruise planning efforts, and applied an adaptive sampling strategy for which we queried these models in near real-time during the cruise to decide on sampling locations/times. We occupied a grid of stations in the Columbia River, Estuary, and Plume, and over the Oregon and Washington continental shelf and slope. We measured hydrographic (T, S, pressure), bio-optical (chlorophyll fluorescence, light transmission) chemical (nitrate, dissolved oxygen) and physical (ADCP subsurface velocity) parameters.

We collected samples for membrane lipid and DNA- and RNA-based microbial community analyses, primary and secondary production rates and water chemistry across environmental gradients in pelagic environments of the Columbia River, estuary, and plume, and along established sampling lines along the Oregon and Washington coasts. Sediment cores were taken at select sites, and we made continuous measurements of surface water chemistry with several devices attached to the seawater flow-through system.