LifeWatch observatory data: phytoplankton observations by imaging flow cytometry (FlowCam) in the Belgian Part of the North Sea
Wat erin zit
A spatial grid of 17 stations spread over the BPNS are being sampled since May 2017 . Nine, nearshore stations are sampled on a monthly basis. Eight additional stations, positioned further offshore, are sampled only with seasonal frequency. The stations are part of the LifeWatch marine observatory that forms a dense net of sensor networks and observation stations in the Belgian coastal waters and sandbank system, a designated site in the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network. Stations are visited in the course of one to three day sampling cruises with the RV Simon Stevin. Sampling activities on board are registered in the Marine Information Data Acquisition System (MIDAS). Through MIDAS, the scientists can record the metadata of their scientific actions (e.g. time, coordinates, action type, start and stop of the action, station, status of deployment and notes). MIDAS also registers the navigation (heading, current time, latitude, longitude, speed, course over ground, navigation depth and draught) together with meteorological (air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and speed) and oceanographic data (sea surface water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a and …