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Winter surface conditions – Helicopter survey

Mean 2014 to 2023 winter surface conditions in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. The survey has been taking place every year in March. Surface conditions are described by temperature, salinity and nutrient concentration (mmol/m3) interpolated on a 10km x 10km grid.

Purpose

Since many years, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting annual surveys, at different periods of the year, in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, each having many objectives including assessment of environmental conditions.

However, these surveys, carried out on vessels, did not cover the winter period. Since 1996, a regional monitoring program, conducted by Maurice-Lamontagne Institute scientists, is taking place in order to fill this gap. The annual helicopter survey is undertaken in the beginning of March to evaluate physical oceanographic conditions of waters up to 200 m and surface water nutrient contains.

These surveys are usually sampled from a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter but from an icebreaker in 2016 and 2017.

Data from regional monitoring programs are combined with the ones from the Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) to produce annual reports (physical, biological and a Zonal Scientific Advice) which are available at the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS), (http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/index-eng.htm).

Galbraith, P.S., Chassé, J., Caverhill, C., Nicot, P., Gilbert, D., Pettigrew, B., Lefaivre, D., Brickman, D., Devine, L., and Lafleur, C. 2017. Physical Oceanographic Conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2016. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/044. v + 91 p.

Devine, L., Scarratt, M., Plourde, S., Galbraith, P.S., Michaud, S., and Lehoux, C. 2017. Chemical and Biological Oceanographic Conditions in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence during 2015. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/034. v + 48 pp.

Additional Information

Water sampling for nutrient analysis is done from Niskin bottles according to AZMP sampling protocol:

Mitchell, M. R., Harrison, G., Pauley, K., Gagné, A., Maillet, G., and Strain, P. 2002. Atlantic Zonal Monitoring Program sampling protocol. Can. Tech. Rep. Hydrogr. Ocean Sci. 223: iv + 23 pp.

Nitrate titration is carried out according to the following method ((nitrite + nitrate) – nitrite):

Nitrite + nitrate: Armstrong, FAJ, CR Stearns, JDH Strickland (1967) The measurement of upwelling and subsequent biological processes by means of the Technicon Autoanalyzer and associated equipment. Deep-Sea Res 14(3) 381-389.

Nitrite: American Public Health Assoc. (1971) Standard Methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 13th edition, pp. 240-243, Washington D.C.

Phosphate: Murphy, J, JP Riley (1962) A modified single solution method for the determination of phosphate in natural waters. Anal Chim. Acta 27 : 30.

Silicate: Strickland, JDH, TR Parsons (1972) A Practical Handbook of Seawater Analysis, second edition. Fish Res Board Can, Bulletin 167, 310 pp.

The surface water temperature and salinity are determined from CTD profiles.

Simple

Date ( RI_367 )
2018
Date ( RI_366 )
2018
Date ( RI_368 )
2024
RI_416
  Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Sciences/Scientific Advice, Information and Support Branch - Gestion des données/Data Management ( )
850, route de la Mer, P.O. Box 1000 , Mont-Joli , G5H 3Z4 , Canada
Status
onGoing; enContinue RI_596
Maintenance and update frequency
annually; annuel RI_539
Keywords ( RI_530 )
  • Nitrate
  • Phosphate
  • Silicate
  • Nutrients
  • Ocean Temperature
  • Water Temperature
  • Salinity
  • Sea Surface Temperature
Keywords ( RI_525 )
  • St. Lawrence Estuary
  • Gulf of St. Lawrence
Thésaurus des sujets de base du gouvernement du Canada Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus ( RI_528 )
  • Oceanography
  • Earth sciences
  • Oceans
  • Surface water
  • Physics
  • Temperature
  • Salt water
Classification
unclassified; nonClassifié RI_484
Use limitation
Open Government Licence - Canada (http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)
Access constraints
license; licence RI_606
Use constraints
license; licence RI_606
Spatial representation type
vector; vecteur RI_635
Metadata language
fra; CAN
Metadata language
eng; CAN
Character set
utf8; utf8 RI_458
Topic category
  • Oceans
  • Environment
Begin date
2014
End date
2023
N
S
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W
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Reference system identifier
EPSG / EPSG: 32198 / 7.4.1
Distribution format
  • ESRI REST ( 10.3.1 )

  • CSV ( Inconnue )

RI_414
  Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Sciences/Scientific Advice, Information and Support Branch - Gestion des données/Data Management ( )
850, route de la Mer, P.O. Box 1000 , Mont-Joli , G5H 3Z4 , Canada
OnLine resource
Map of the winter surface conditions – Helicopter survey ( ESRI REST: Map Server )

Web Service;ESRI REST;eng

OnLine resource
Map of the winter surface conditions – Helicopter survey ( ESRI REST: Map Server )

Web Service;ESRI REST;fra

OnLine resource
Data of the winter surface conditions – Helicopter survey ( HTTPS )

Dataset;CSV;eng,fra

OnLine resource
Data dictionary ( HTTPS )

Supporting Document;CSV;eng,fra

File identifier
9a42d891-fc9c-44b3-8fba-9d9ed96890cf XML
Metadata language
fra; CAN
Character set
utf8; utf8 RI_458
Hierarchy level
dataset; jeuDonnées RI_622
Date stamp
2025-02-04T20:46:22.23Z
Metadata standard name
North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003 - Geographic information - Metadata
Metadata standard version
CAN/CGSB-171.100-2009
RI_418
  Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Sciences/Scientific Advice, Information and Support Branch - Gestion des données/Data Management ( )
850, route de la Mer, P.O. Box 1000 , Mont-Joli , G5H 3Z4 , Canada
 
 

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