The Oceanic CO2 Monitor

Robust instrumentation is needed to map the distribution of Delta p(CO2) for the ocean¿s surface. Accuracies must be 2 ppm for water and 0.2ppm for the atmosphere. We are proposing to customize an AOS NonDispersive InfraRed analyzer to measure Delta p(CO2) autonomously from ships. Calibration will be referred to the WMO scale of dry mole fraction, and possible artifacts will be tracked by observational protocols. For Phase I, AOS will build and test the prototype analyzer with a commercial equilibrator in the laboratory. A full plan will be proposed for Phase II to include: (i) development of the full Delta p(CO2) system into a portable, compact product that is easy to install and maintain, (ii) observational protocols that merge diagnostics with the data stream to allow evaluation/reevaluation of the observations, and (iii) multiple deployments on ships to make certain that measurements of Delta p(CO2) are being measured properly with objective errors.