Hydroblack 91 : report of the CTD Intercalibration Workshop

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. OCE-9121788, theVetleson Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Mobil Foundation, Inc. and theRegional Environmental Center for Central & Eastern Europe (Budapest).

An Intercalibration Workshop was held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution(W.H.O.I.) from 1-10 December, 1991, for the CTD data acquired during HYDROBLACK '91.This intercalibration exercise was a prelude to an interdisciplinary HYDROBLACK '91intercalibration to be held in Crimea, Ukraine, in February, 1992, incorporating the full suite of physical, biological, and chemical measurements acquired during the cruise.HYDROBLACK '91 acquired for the first time a complete hydrographic, biological, andchemical data set for the entire Black Sea, to 200 m water depth, with the participation of all BlackSea riparian countres as well as the U.S. Nearly 300 hydrographic stations were occupied to fullwater depth; biological and chemical measurements were made at 100 of these stations. Thisquasi-synoptic survey was accomplished using five ships during an interval of approximately threeweeks.Results show some disparities between CTD's from the different regions, but theintercalibrated results show a consistent and high resolution detail of the dynamic topography andother physical characteristics of the entire Black Sea basin. The intercalibrated data set is nowavailable within each country and from W.H.O.I., and will form the basis for studies on oceanphysics as well as interdisciplinary issues such as oxygen depletion within the basin and hydrogensulfide distribution. This effort provides an intercalibrated, spatially-dense baseline against whichall future and past measurements can be compared.In spite of significant economic pressures arising from the changes in the eastern Europeancountries, and the inadequate scientific exchange with the west during the past two decades,HYDROBLACK '91 is considered a success and a model for future international scientific andmonitoring efforts thoughout the Black Sea. Similar efforts are anticipated twice-yearly in theframework of the new Cooperative Marine Science Program for the Black Sea.