Florida Gulf Coast University has taken delivery of the new LISST-HAB instrument which will be used initially in the Estero Bay of Florida to study sediment transport in and around seagrass beds. The product technology is designed for scientific monitoring work in areas prone to harmful algal blooms (HABs). Dr. David C. Fugate (Associate Professor of Marine Science) states, “I will be examining suspended particle size differences above seagrass beds and nonvegetated sites. In the near future I will be using the LISST-HAB to monitor red tides, Karenia brevis, offshore of southwest Florida. We will monitor 6 stations along a 105 km transect, the deepest sites are around 50 m depth.”

The LISST-HAB (Harmful Algae Bloom) is a self-contained, stand-alone instrument system for use on profiling packages, towed and remote vehicle applications, for deployment during a HAB event. The system will continuously measure particle size distribution and concentration, along with the fluorescence of Phycocyanin (Freshwater HAB’s), Phycoerythrin (Marine HAB’s), Chlorophyll and beam attenuation.