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

在该项目中，蒙特利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氧光灯和Wet Labs生态荧光仪的Apex剖面浮标。每年将在HOT(夏威夷海洋时序)站、BATS(百慕大大西洋时序)站和阿拉斯加湾的海洋站Papa部署两辆花车。每年将在南大洋再部署两辆花车。这些浮标将提供这些地点生物地球化学过程的时间序列观测，其时间分辨率是目前的船上观测所无法支持的。由于每个彩车的寿命为四年，彩车网络还将在项目接近结束时提供每个部署地点周围显著提高的空间分辨率。这些基于彩车的传感器为研究各种过程提供了可能性。项目负责人最近证明，剖面浮标可以根据溶解氧测量提供混合层以下社区净生产量的时间序列观测。NCP的连续测量表明，副热带海洋的真光带产生氧气(净自养)，高NCP的间歇性事件不需要维持正的自养平衡。因此，这些测量可能会解决一个根本的争议，即少营养海洋是净异养还是净自养。在BATS现场附近，浮标可能会大大提高人们对涡旋在维持较高的初级生产率方面的作用的理解。在高纬度，这些花车将提供一个无与伦比的视角，了解垂直混合与春季开花时间的相互作用。这项工作将产生两种更广泛的影响。该项目将“刺激和支持下一代仪器、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，通过将这项研究的数据直接实时提供给研究和教育，它将“在促进教学、培训和学习的同时促进发现和理解。”关于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.