Efforts to identify in situ the mechanisms underpinning the response of harmful algae to climate change demand frequent observations in dynamic and often difficult to access marine and freshwater environments. Increasingly, resource managers and researchers are looking to fill this data gap using unmanned systems. In this study we integrated the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) into an autonomous platform to provide near real-time surveillance of harmful algae and the toxin domoic acid on the Washington State continental shelf over a three-year period (2016–2018). The ESP mooring design accommodated the necessary subsystems to sustain ESP operations, supporting deployment durations of up to 7.5 weeks. The combination of ESP observations and a suite of contextual measurements from the ESP mooring and a nearby surface buoy permitted an investigation into toxic Pseudo-nitzschia spp. bloom dynamics. Preliminary findings suggest a connection between bloom formation and nutrient availability that is modulated by wind-forced coastal-trapped waves. In addition, high concentrations of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and elevated levels of domoic acid observed at the ESP mooring location were not necessarily associated with the advection of water from known bloom initiation sites. Such insights, made possible by this autonomous technology, enable the formulation of testable hypotheses on climate-driven changes in HAB dynamics that can be investigated during future deployments.

Silicon drift detectors have been successfully employed in both soft and hard X-ray spectroscopy. The response function to incident radiation at soft X-ray levels has been well studied and modeled, but less research has been published on response functions for these detectors to hard X-ray input spectra above 20 keV. When used with hard X-ray sources a significant low energy, non-peak response exists which can adversely affect detection limits for lighter elements in, for example, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. We present a numerical model that explains the non-peak response function of silicon drift detectors to hard X-rays based on incoherent Compton scattering within the detector volume. Experimental results are presented and numerically compared to model results.