A durable and inexpensive pump profiler to monitor stratified water columns with high vertical resolution

Talanta. 2019 Jul 1:199:415-424. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.02.076. Epub 2019 Feb 22.

Abstract

A pump profiling system for real time sample collection has been constructed for a cost of <$1000 (USD) and mated with a ship's rosette that has conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) and other sensors. The system permits the collection of ~15 L of water in one minute without exposure to O2 from air for discrete sampling of chemical, microbial and other constituents as well as for real time analyses using sensors. We also coupled a shipboard voltammetry system with solid-state microelectrodes to detect dissolved O2 and H2S. Electrode O2 detection limits (DL) are ~3 µM and compare well with in situ Clark electrode O2 data (DL ~2 µM) from the ship's CTD rosette system. H2S measurements also were reliable, based on previously compared methods. Best resolution of the profiling system can be as small as its orifice of 2.54 cm (0.0254 m) in a quiet sea state, which is an improvement over the maximum resolution achievable using 10 L Niskin bottles that are 1 m in length.

Keywords: Chesapeake Bay; Pump profiler; Redox; Stratification; Voltammetry.