Science Community Acquires Oceanographic Instruments from MacArtney

LISST instruments are manufactured by Seattle based oceanographic instrument manufacturer, Sequoia Scientific, Inc. They are used for environmental monitoring, industrial, and scientific applications across the globe. The unique submersible LISSTs help engineers, scientists, and monitoring agencies reliably measure the concentration and size of sediment, plankton, and oil droplets in any water body.

Scope of Supply

The order placed by University of Bergen with MacArtney consists of the LISST instruments LISST-VSF and LISST-200X. These products are to be used in the sea close to the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway for water optical property studies.

The LISST-VSF is the most advanced submersible in-situ optical instrument in the world. It measures the volume scattering function (VSF) of water with depolarisation capabilities. These measurements are used by oceanographers and physicists to develop models for light propagation in water. Ultimately, such measurements can lead to improved and more accurate environmental monitoring and understanding of the aquatic environment. Additionally, the depolarization capabilities have potential for discrimination between particle types and shapes.

LISST-200X submersible laser particle sizer

The LISST-200X, introduced by Sequoia in 2016, is the world’s most advanced submersible laser particle sizer. Since 1995, the LISST-200X predecessors, the LISST-100 and LISST-100X, have been used by aquatic engineers and scientists all over the world to study e.g. sediment transport, dredge plumes, algae growth, and oil droplet dispersion. The LISST-200X adds on to the capabilities of the LISST-100X by measuring particles in a wider size range, at larger concentrations, having a better depth rating, and with the ability to provide real-time output of mean particle size and concentration.

In addition to the two instruments, supplied complete with battery packs, the order comprises MacArtney deployment frames for both instruments, and a two-day on-site training course in Bergen headed by MacArtney personnel. The training sessions will comprise both theoretical and practical sessions covering the fundamentals of light scattering as well as instrument deployment and subsequent data process-ping and interpretation.