The FjordPhyto citizen science project in the Antarctic Peninsula ...

• Main Authors: Vernet, Maria, Reynolds, Rick, Cusick, Allison, Mascioni, Martina, Almandoz, Gaston
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2024
• Subjects: FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Antarctic Ocean; Oceanography; Phytoplankton; Biodiversity; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; King George Island; Marguerite; Marguerite Bay; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b909; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.w0vt4b909

FjordPhyto, funded by the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2016-2019 and by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program since 2021, is a citizen science project that examines the impacts of increasing glacier meltwater on local ecosystems at the ice-ocean interface of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), with an emphasis on the western coast (WAP). The citizen science module is based on a collaboration with the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). Citizen scientists participate in a “validation safari” in which satellite data informs sampling to validate and refine a new ocean color algorithm to detect the glacial meltwater content of seawater from space. The in-situ measurements are combined with remote sensing data products to address scientific questions related to the impacts of glacial meltwater on phytoplankton community abundance and taxonomic composition. This project implements new field sampling techniques and ... : Samples were collected by the FjordPhyto Citizen Science program (www.fjordphyto.org; Cusick et al. 2020), created in 2016-2017 with tour operator expedition vessel members of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) to collect oceanographic data from surface ocean waters. Samples were taken from November to March at numerous locations along the Antarctic Peninsula (AP), mostly in the western side, between King George Island (62°S, 58°W) and Marguerite Bay (near 68°S) (Figure 1) with the help of travelers visiting the inshore (<0.2 km from shore) and nearshore (0.2 to 40 km from shore) regions in the WAP. Samples were collected from surface waters from an inflatable boat (e.g., a Zodiac) during their visits to the AP, from 2016 to present day, including a CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth sensor) profile between 0 and down to 100m depth, determination of a Secchi depth, surface seawater fixed in Lugol for microscopy analysis, a surface net tow (20-micron mesh) for genetic eDNA ...