CO2 SENSOR SYSTEM FOR LONG-TERM OCEAN MONITORING

A LARGE UNCERTAINTY EXISTS CONCERNING THE QUANTITATIVE ABILITY OF THE OCEANS TO TAKE UP ANTHROPOGENIC CO2. A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCEAN ANDATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRIES WOULD BROADEN THE ABILITY OF SCIENCETO PREDICT THE MAGNITUDE AND RATE OF GLOBAL WARMING SO THAT APPROPRIATE COUNTERMEASURES COULD BE DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED. AN ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENT IS NEEDED TO MAKE CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENTS OF THE CO2 CONCENTRATION ABOVE AND BELOW THE OCEANIC SURFACES. FOR THE LARGE SCALE STUDIES NEEDED, THE INSTRUMENT WILL HAVE TO FUNCTION UNATTENDED, ALLOWING PLACEMENT ON SURFACE BUOYS OR SHIPS, AND BE ABLE TO TRANSMITDATA TO A CENTRAL DATA COLLECTION STATION. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ROUTINELY ENCOUNTERED AT SEA. IT WILL UTILIZE A NEW SOLID STATE SENSOR TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL PERFORMANCE AND COST FEATURES SUITABLE FOR REMOTE MONITORING OF THE CO2 LEVELS IN BOTH SHALLOW AND DEEP OCEAN WATERS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL INCLUDE THE DATA ACQUISITION AND TELEMETRY ELECTRONICS FOR AUTOMATED MONITORING AT REMOVE LOCATIONS.