[Bio-optical measurements] - Bio-optical measurements made using the shipboard flow-through system within three hours of CTD casts conducted on R/V Robert Gordon Sproul cruises along the Southern California coast during July and August 2023 (Postdoctoral Fellowship: OCE-PRF: Smoke on the water: the impacts of wildfire ash deposition on surface ocean biology)

These data were collected to provide context for the incubation experiments that were also conducted on board. Incubations were comprised of dilution experiments to assess phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing rates and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) remineralization bioassays to assess bacterioplankton growth and DOC degradation.

Deposition of wildfire ash on the ocean can fertilize microbial production but also has the potential to inhibit microbial growth due to heavy metal toxicity. The data collected from these field experiments can contribute to elevating understanding of wildfire-driven material transfer from the terrestrial system to the ocean and its impact on carbon and energy flow in marine food webs. These data were collected by Dr.