Overview

The student will be mainly introduced in the fields of

• coastal/marine observations
• marine biogeochemistry
• oceanographic instrumentation
• statistical (aquatic) ecology
• numerical (aquatic) modelling

The student will have the opportunity to be involved in the activities of several components of the Operational Observatory of the Catalan Sea (OOCS).

One of the components of the observatory is an oceanographic buoy that will be deployed at about 5 miles offshore Blanes harbour on the head of a deep submarine canyon. The buoy is equipped with meteorological (surface) instruments measuring wind speed and direction, irradiance, air temperature and humidity. The oceanographic (underwater) instruments in the buoy measure water speed and direction, irradiance, temperature, salinity, turbidity, fluorescence chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen.

Data from the buoy are transmitted daily to a land station for processing and publication on a dedicated web page (http://www.ceab.csic.es/~oceans/) within a short time period.

Additionally, the student will be involved in fortnightly surveys performed on board a small research vessel to make (CTD) profiles of salinity, temperature, irradiance, fluorescence, and turbidity in the upper 200 m water layer, followed by bottle (Niskin) sampling to measure phytoplankton cells concentration, spectrophotometric chlorophylls, nutrients (nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate),dissolved oxygen and irradiance. Samples are processed at CEAB facilities and are expected to be published on the web within a short time period.

The participation by the student in the Quality Control System development, field activities and lab analyses will give her a first-hand view of the activities dealing with running an oceanographic observatory. Other team members will be in charge of implementing and publishing hydrodynamic and biogeochemical modelling of the area using the observations, thus becoming the Observatory operational.

The activities at CEAB-CSIC by the student will be performed within the framework of the OAMMS (Observation, Analysis and Modelling of the Mediterranean Sea) project, coordinated by Dr. Antonio Cruzado and Dr. Nixon Bahamon.

- Detailed programme of the training period:

• Introduction to dynamics of pelagic ecosystems.
• Introduction to the observational and operational system for the Catalan Sea.
• Preparation of oceanographic surveys.
• Preparation of equipment and materials to perform deployment of an oceanographic buoy.
• Data collection (telemetry) from an oceanographic buoy and data processing.
• Lab analyses of field (marine) samples for chlorophylls, dissolved oxygen and nutrients.
• Data publication on a dedicated webpage.
• Literature review about quality control systems in oceanographic observatories around the world.

Tasks of the trainee

Based on theoretical training and practical activities carried out by the student at CEAB, it is expected the student contribute to the implementation of a quality control program incorporating recommendations and guidelines for field sampling and sample analyses in the Lab for a number of marine environmental variables in the OOCS monitoring system.

Monitoring and evaluation plan

All the student activities will be monitored continuously by the project coordinators. We try to maintain a pleasant working environment for the students to enjoy while learning on the various subjects and responsibilities dealing with completing scientific and technical activities within the framework of a research project. The contribution to a written manual dealing with the implementation of a Quality Control Program for the OOCS monitoring system will be the basis for evaluating the student progress.

Requirements

Undergraduate and graduate students with knowledge in Matlab, Visual Basic 2008, and Fortran are welcome to participate in a number of activities dealing with the Observatory

• 1DV model of the observation at the station OOCS
  • Lenguaje: Visual Basic 2008
  • Preferibly graduate (master) students
• 3D hidrographic and biogeochemical model (POM) of the Western Mediterranean
  • Lenguaje: Fortran
  • Preferibly graduate (master, doctoral) students
• Implementation of an automatic system for collecting, processing and on-line publishing the OOCS dsta
  • Lenguaje: MATLAB
  • Preferibly undergraduate and graduate (master) students

Application information

On-going opportunities

Erasmus

AECI