Collaborative Research: In situ measurements of oxygen and nitrate with profiling floats deployed at ocean time-series stations

在这个项目中，蒙特雷湾水族馆研究所和华盛顿大学的研究人员将建造和部署配备ISUS光学硝酸盐传感器、Aanderaa氧气光电管和Wet Labs ECO荧光计的Apex剖面浮标。每年将在HOT（夏威夷海洋时间序列）站、BATS（百慕大大西洋时间序列）站和阿拉斯加湾的Papa海洋站部署两个浮标。每年将在南大洋部署另外两个浮标。这些浮标将提供这些地点的地球化学过程的时间序列观测，其时间分辨率是目前船上观测所不能维持的。每个浮标的使用寿命为四年，浮标网络还将在该项目结束时在每个部署地点周围提供显著提高的空间分辨率。这些基于浮标的传感器提供了研究各种过程的潜力。 项目负责人最近证明，剖面浮标可以根据溶解氧测量结果提供混合层以下净群落生产的时间序列观测。NCP的连续测量表明，亚热带海洋的真光层产生氧气（净自养）和高NCP的事件不需要维持积极的自养平衡。因此，这些测量可能会解决一个根本性的争议，贫营养海洋是净异养或净自养。在BATS现场附近，浮子可能会大大提高对涡流在维持初级生产率升高中的作用的理解。在高纬度地区，浮标将提供一个无与伦比的视图的相互作用的垂直混合与时间的春天开花。这项工作将产生两种更广泛的影响。 该项目将“激励和支持下一代仪器，多用户设施和其他共享研究和教育平台的开发和传播。其次，通过使这项研究的数据在真实的时间内直接用于研究和教育，它将“在促进教学、培训和学习的同时促进发现和理解“。“有关该项目及其产生的数据流的信息也将在一个专门的网站上提供。

In this project, researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the University of Washington will construct and deploy Apex profiling floats equipped with ISUS optical nitrate sensors, Aanderaa oxygen optodes and Wet Labs ECO fluorometers. Two floats per year will be deployed at the HOT (Hawaii Ocean Time series) station, BATS (Bermuda Atlantic Time Series) station and at Ocean Station Papa in the Gulf of Alaska. Two additional float will be deployed each year in the Southern Ocean. These floats will provide time series observations of biogeochemical processes at these sites with temporal resolution that cannot be sustained by the current shipboard observations. With life spans for each float of four years, the float network will also provide significantly improved spatial resolution around each of the deployment sites near the end of this project.These float-based sensors provide the potential to study a variety of processes. The project leaders recently demonstrated that profiling floats can provide time series observations of Net Community Production below the mixed layer based on dissolved oxygen measurements. The continuous measurements of NCP demonstrate that the euphotic zone of the subtropical ocean produces oxygen (net autotrophic) and that episodic events of high NCP are not required to sustain a positive autotrophic balance. These measurements thus may resolve a fundamental controversy as to whether the oligotrophic ocean is net heterotrophic or net autotrophic. Near the BATS site the floats will likely provide significantly improved understanding of the role of eddies in sustaining elevated primary production rates. At high latitudes, the floats will provide an unparalled view of the interaction of vertical mixing with timing of the spring bloom. Two types of Broader Impacts will result from this work. The project will "stimulate and support the development and dissemination of next-generation instrumentation, multi-user facilities, and other shared research and education platforms." And secondly, by making the data from this research directly available in real time to the research and education, it will "advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training and learning." Information about the project and the data stream it produces will also be made available on a dedicated web site.