Water mass transport and transformation in the western SPNA, Cruise No. MSM74, May 25 - June 26, 2018, St. John's (Canada) - Reykjavik (Iceland), Western SPNA transport

The scientific program of the MARIA S. MERIAN MSM74 expedition was dedicated to studies on the intensity of water mass transformation and the southward transport of water masses in the boundary current systems off Labrador and at the southern tip of Greenland. During the expedition we recovered 17/deployed 8 deep sea moorings. Measurements of the vertical structure of temperature, salinity, density, oxygen, optical properties and the flow along selected sections have been surveyed during the MSM74 expedition. Close to the surface, permanent registrations are carried out with the thermosalinograph (temperature, salinity) and meteorological data are continuously collected. Flow measurements up to 1000m depth are performed with the ships installed ADCPs. The expedition is a contribution to national (RACE) and international projects (OSNAP, AtlantOS)

First Steps towards a near Real-Time Modelling System of <i>Vibrio vulnificus</i> in the Baltic Sea

Over the last two decades, Vibrio vulnificus infections have emerged as an increasingly serious public health threat along the German Baltic coast. To manage related risks, near real-time (NRT) modelling of V. vulnificus quantities has often been proposed. Such models require spatially explicit input data, for example, from remote sensing or numerical model products. We tested if data from a hydrodynamic, a meteorological, and a biogeochemical model are suitable as input for an NRT model system by coupling it with field samples and assessing the models’ ability to capture known ecological parameters of V. vulnificus. We also identify the most important predictors for V. vulnificus in the Baltic Sea by leveraging the St. Nicolas House Analysis. Using a 27-year time series of sea surface temperature, we have investigated trends of V. vulnificus season length, which pinpoint hotspots mainly in the east of our study region. Our results underline the importance of water temperature and salinity on V. vulnificus abundance but also highlight the potential of air temperature, oxygen, and precipitation to serve as predictors in a statistical model, albeit their relationship with V. vulnificus may not be causal. The evaluated models cannot be used in an NRT model system due to data availability constraints, but promising alternatives are presented. The results provide a valuable basis for a future NRT model for V. vulnificus in the Baltic Sea