CICEET Progress Report for the period 9/01/01 through 3/01/02

Project Title: Application of a continuous imaging flow cytometer for monitoring estuarine microplankton.
Principal Investigator(s): Michael Sieracki, Christian Sieracki

Accomplishments
Scheduled Tasks:
Our primary goal was to install the Bigelow FlowCAM instrument on the new floating dock at Wells Harbor. This allowed us to monitor water column particles in continuous flow mode through fall, winter and into early spring to cover spring bloom period (expected to be Feb-Mar). This will give us a post-dredging period equivalent to the pre-dredging period of time we have studied.

Difficulties Encountered
There have been no major difficulties this report period. The T-Sal instrument on the FlowCAM malfunctioned, but temperature and salinity is being monitored independently at the site by the Wells Estuarine Reserve, so there will be no loss of data for this project. Some short periods of time (a few days) have been lost due to freezing of the seawater tubing during extremely cold periods. We could not add a heater to the instrument due to a lack AC power to the dock.

Tasks and activities for next reporting period

Tasks for the next reporting period
Chris Sieracki will participate in the education/outreach workshop to be March 02 at the University of New Hampshire. After the instrument is removed from the Wells Harbor location, we will collate and analyze the data to compare pre-, during and post-dredging particle populations.

Work plan to accomplish tasks
The instrument will be in continuous operation through the month of March 02. In early April we will remove the instrument and collect and backup data. In the following 3 months (May-July) we will collate, analyze and reduce the data to show the seasonal and tidal cycle of plankton and other particle populations. Data will be reduced to show cell concentrations, biomass and size spectra. Dominant cell types will be identified from the images for the distinctive periods in the record. Data analysis will be done by Mike Sieracki and a technician in his lab. In August we will prepare our final report and any associated publications.