Development of a High-Precision TOC/DOC Analyzer With a nM Detection Limit

“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。”总有机碳和溶解有机碳(TOC/DOC)是全球碳循环的核心组成部分，也是水和环境质量分析的两个重要参数。对溶解有机质的准确测量对于确定海洋模型中碳的质量平衡和估计全球海洋碳循环对气候波动的敏感性很重要。目前在海水中精确测量TOC和DOC的做法不足以辨别由一些生物地球化学过程引起的微小浓度差异，例如呼吸作用、光化学氧化或水团的混合。为了解决这个问题，老道明大学的科学家们正在开发一种新型的总有机碳和溶解有机碳分析仪，它将比现有的仪器或技术具有显著的优势，包括更高的灵敏度和精密度。这种仪器的开发可以使海洋科学家探测到开放海洋中DOC浓度的非常微小的变化。然后，这些数据可以用于碳循环和通量模型。在成功开发和参数优化之后，该仪器有可能实现近乎连续的、无人值守的船载数据采集。更广泛的影响：除了这一仪器将为海洋科学界提供的好处外，它还可能允许在各种监管监测行动中监测有机物，例如在再生水的消毒过程中。这项研究的专业发展益处包括资助一名早期职业研究科学家，以及支持老道明大学的一名博士后研究员。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."Total and dissolved organic carbon (TOC/DOC) are central components of the global carbon cycle, as well as being two important parameters in water and environmental quality analysis. Accurate measurements of dissolved organic matter are important for defining the mass balance of carbon in oceanic models and for estimating the sensitivity of the global ocean carbon cycle to climate fluctuations. Current practices for taking precise TOC and DOC measurements in seawater are insufficient for discerning the small differences in concentrations caused by a number of biogeochemical processes, for example, respiration, photochemical oxidation or mixing of water masses. To address this issue, scientists from Old Dominion University are developing a new type of total and dissolved organic carbon analyzer that will have significant advantages over the existing instruments or techniques, including higher sensitivity and precision. The development of this instrument could enable ocean scientists to detect very small changes in DOC concentrations in the open ocean. This data can then be utilized in carbon cycling and flux models. Following successful development and parameter optimization, this instrument could potentially permit near-continuous, unattended acquisition of underway-shipboard data. Broader impacts: In addition to the benefits this instrumentation would provide for the ocean science community, it would also potentially allow for the monitoring of organics in a variety of regulatory monitoring operations, such as in the sterilization process for reclaimed water. The professional development benefits of this research include funding for an early career research scientist as well as the support for a postdoctoral fellow at Old Dominion University.