DEVELOPMENT OF A BUOY-MOUNTED CO2 ANALYZER

PRECISE MEASUREMENTS ON CO2 UPTAKE BY THE OCEANS ARE NEEDED IN ORDER TO INCREASE OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE GLOBAL CO2 CYCLE, AND DORMULATE INTELLIGENT CO2 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES. WE PROPOSE TO MONITOR THE CO2 PARTIAL PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL AT THE AIR-SEA INTERFACE BY DEVELOPING A BUOY-MOUNTED CO2 ANALYZER. OCEAN BUOYS ARE USED FOR PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND METEOROLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS, AND TO SOME EXTENT, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS. THE COMBINATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART CO2 MEASUREMENTS, UNATTENDED BUOY PLATFORMS, AND NETWORK MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS, WILL ENABLE THE COLLECTION OF UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS OF DATA FROM REMOTE OCEAN ENVIRONMENTS. THE KEY FUNCTION OF THIS ANALYZER IS TO MEASURE THE PARAMETERS REQUIRED TO CALCULATE THE NET CO2 FLUX ACROSS THE AIR-SEA INTERFACE. THESE PARAMETERS INCLUDE THE PARTIAL PRESSURE OF CO2 IN SEA WATER AND THE ATMOSPHERE, WIND SPEED AND WAVE TURBULENCE, TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY, ALL CORRELATED WITH THE TIME OF MEASUREMENT. THE CRITICAL DESIGN ISSUES INCLUDE: 10 CO2 MEASUREMENTS AND CALIBRATIONS THAT ASSURE CO2 DATA QUALITY TO +2 MICRO-ATMOSPHERES FOR PERIODS OF AT LEAST ONE YAR; 2) SAMPLE COLLECTION TECHNIQUES; 3) RELATING CO2 MEASUREMENTS TO HISTORICAL AND INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS; 4) BEFALLING PREVENTION; 5) POWER CONSUMPTION MANAGEMENT; 6) COMMUNICATION/DATA MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS.