Introduction Background CRIMP Program PMEL Buoy Diagnostics (local access only)   Click on red star on map at right to see data.	Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

Introduction to Kaneohe Bay

Kaneohe Bay, located on the eastern side of Oahu, Hawaii, is a complex estuarine system with a large barrier coral reef, numerous patch reefs, fringing reefs, and several riverine inputs. Kaneohe Bay is 12.7 km long and 4.3 km wide, making it the largest sheltered body of water in Hawaii. About a dozen streams empty into the bay. Northeasterly (Trade) winds prevail during half of the year and tides in Kaneohe Bay are semi-diurnal with a mean tidal amplitude of approximately 68 cm day^-1 (Jokiel et al. 1993). Kaneohe Bay can be divided into an inner bay that includes waters landward of the barrier reef and an outer bay that includes water over the barrier reef (Smith et al. 1981). The inner bay waters can be subdivided into three different sectors: the northern, central, and southern bays (represented by dashed lines on map). Water generally flows from the open ocean over the barrier reef into the central bay and then flows out through two channels: a deep shipping channel in the northern bay and the Sampan Channel in the central bay. While the northern and central bay exchange water relatively freely with the open ocean, the southern bay is partially enclosed by the Mokapu Peninsula and Coconut (Moku O Lo‘e) Island thereby restricting circulation with the open ocean and the rest of the bay.

PMEL’s CO₂ Program has installed a moored buoy in Southern Kaneohe Bay (location shown by a red star on map) with mounted sensors which provide high resolution time-series measurements of the partial pressure of atmospheric boundary layer CO₂ and surface water CO₂ as well as surface water dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity. We are also working with collaborators from the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii who have mounted instruments on the mooring that measure sea surface chlorophyll a, turbidity, temperature, salinity, depth, pH, dissolved oxygen, and particle concentration in 32 size classes ranging from 1.25 microns to 250 microns. These data are used to evaluate the temporal variability in air-sea CO₂ fluxes and to assist in examining the mechanisms controlling CO₂ fluxes. To see data collected by the buoy in Kaneohe Bay, click on the red star on the map or here.