Coastal Ocean Observing System Elements for the Southern California Bight and Santa Monica

We propose to establish, maintain, and augment the sensors for UCLA's oceanographic mooring near the edge of the continental shelf in Santa Monica Bay; extensively sample the water quality within the surrounding region, and interpret the measurements in combination with satellite sensing and three-dimensional, fine-scale numerical simulations of the local region. This will be done in coordination with other proposed measurements in the Southern California Bight that collectively are establishing a long-term, multi-purpose observing system for the regional environment. The research issues to be addressed with the measurements include water quality and pollution, ecosystem productivity, biogeochemical cycling, zooplankton and forage species distributions, mesoscale circulation patterns, and climate variability