River Influences on Shelf Ecosystems

RISE Homepage

RISE (River Influences on Shelf Ecosystems) is a 5-year interdisciplinary study of the Columbia River plume, funded by the Coastal Ocean Program of the National Science Foundation.

The Columbia River brings buoyant fresh water to the coast, along with dissolved silicate and iron, crucial to phytoplankton growth.  RISE is a group of 12 scientists from different ocean disciplines: biology, chemistry, and physics, working together to explore how the river plume modifies biological productivity along the Washington and Oregon continental shelves.  We have four major research cruises planned in 2004-2006, each using two vessels and lasting over three weeks.  We make simultaneous measurements of water chemistry, phytoplankton growth and grazing rates, zooplankton populations, water currents, and turbulent mixing.  These are combined with data from satellites, radar, and moorings, as well as detailed numerical simulations, to develop a deeper understanding of this important ecosystem. (Pt. Sur photo Aaron Raciot)

Links to related programs:

• CoOP Coastal Ocean Program

• COAST Coastal Ocean Advances in Shelf Transport

• WEST Wind Events in Shelf Transport

• LATTE Lagrangian Transport and Transformation Experiment, in the Hudson River Plume

• ECOHAB PNW Ecology of Harmful Algae Blooms in the Pacific Northwest