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USE OF SEDIMENT PROFILE IMAGERY TO ESTIMATE NEAR-BOTTOM DISSOLVED OXYGEN REGIMES
Citation:
Coiro, L, G Cicchetti, B J. Bergen, W Nelson, S Rego, AND J S. Latimer. USE OF SEDIMENT PROFILE IMAGERY TO ESTIMATE NEAR-BOTTOM DISSOLVED OXYGEN REGIMES. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation Conference, Seattle, WA, September 14-18, 2003.
Description:
The U.S. EPA, Atlantic Ecology Division is developing empirical stressor-response models for nitrogen pollution in partially enclosed coastal systems using dissolved oxygen (DO) as one of the system responses. We are testing a sediment profile image camera as a surrogate indicator for near-bottom DO. The sediment profiles were measured regularly at four stations where in-situ bottom DO was continuously monitored between July and November 2002. The stations included a range of sediment types and oxygen regimes in Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA). Nilsson and Rosenberg's benthic habitat quality (BHQ) index was used to score the sediment images. Bottom DO data were processed as percent of time above or below a hypoxic threshold. The BHQ index tracked in situ DO over the study period, with the best relationships occurring when the DO percentage was averaged over the three weeks prior to the camera image. These results show that sediment profile imagery can provide a rapid assessment of recent near-bottom DO conditions.