Scientists at LLO operate an extensive array of physical limnology equipment. Much of the work centers around moored equipment, including a large collection of precision thermistors, ADCPs, two surface meteorological buoys, an acoustic ice profiler, and the equipment required to deploy and recover moorings, including flotation and acoustic releases. LLO also operates a well-instrumented Webb Autonomous underwater glider, and two WetLabs Autonomous Moored Profilers.
Blue Heron Equipment
Equipment aboard the RV Blue Heron include an RD Instruments hull-mounted 150 kHz ADCP, a SeaBird 911+ CTD with a 12 bottle rosette, and a Triaxus towed vehicle with CTD and other instrumentation, and an underway system.
Portable Equipment
For limnological studies in smaller or remote lakes, lightweight equipment is available that includes a Sea&Sun CTD 90M, RBR XRX420 logger, thermistors, Niskin sampling bottles, fluorometers, as well as lightweight cables, ropes, winches, and floats for their deployment.
For turbulence studies, two microstructure turbulence profilers are available for use at LLO: a Precision Measurement Engineering SCAMP temperature microstructure profiler and an ISW Wassermesstechnik MSS velocity microstructure profiler.
The Physical Limnology Laboratory also runs the St. Louis Estuary Nowcasting System, a numerical hydrodynamic model used to determine the flux of heat and momentum between the atmosphere and underlying water.