Developing an Equilibrator Inlet Mass Spectrometer for Underway Measurements of a Suite of Noble Gases

沿海海洋产生了大量的海-气碳通量。大多数关于沿海碳通量的研究都将二氧化碳分压的测量与为公海设计的气体交换参数相结合。然而，由于诸如取气、表面活性剂、海底地形和由于波浪破碎而增强的气泡通量等问题，开放海洋气体交换参数化可能不适合在沿海地区应用。稀有气体在生物和化学上是惰性的，因此是物理过程的极佳示踪剂，例如大气-海洋气体交换。此外，由于有五种稳定的稀有气体具有一系列物理化学性质，这些稀有气体对物理强迫的反应不同，可用于分离和量化物理过程，如气泡注入和扩散的气-海气体交换。稀有气体已成功地用于公海大气-海洋气体交换的参数化。然而，由于沿海地区的非均质性使得用传统的方法测量惰性气体是不现实的，所以它们还没有在海岸带得到应用。PI要求提供资金，以开发一种在航质谱仪，该质谱仪可以测量船舶在航系统中的一套惰性气体(Ne、Kr和Xe)。该系统可用于沿海地区，产生专门为沿海地区设计的气体交换参数。此外，它还可以用于量化其他非均质环境中的气体交换，如浮冰周围，并可用于破冰船上研究海冰的形成。更广泛的影响：拟议系统的设计将通过同行审查和网上发布的出版物广泛提供，其中将包括感兴趣的研究小组复制该系统所需的详细信息。使用EIMS-NOG进行的测量将有助于改善目前对沿海地区海-气气体交换率的了解，并澄清诸如二氧化碳汇/源等区域的作用。国际学生联合会参与指导一些本科生，包括女学生(通过暑期学生和少数民族奖学金方案)。PI还将在R/V Tioga巡航期间将该仪器用作大量本科生(45人)的教育工具，该仪器将在该项目的大部分时间内存放在这艘船上。

Coastal seas are responsible for large air-sea carbon fluxes. Most studies on coastal carbon fluxes combine measurements of the partial pressure of CO2 with a gas exchange parameterization that was designed for the open ocean. However, open ocean gas exchange parameterizations are likely not suitable for application in coastal regions due to issues such as fetch, surfactants, bottom topography, and enhanced bubble fluxes due to wave breaking. Noble gases are biologically and chemically inert and therefore are excellent tracers of physical processes, such as air-sea gas exchange. In addition, because there are five stable noble gases with a range of physicochemical properties, the noble gases respond differently to physical forcing and can be used to separate and quantify physical processes, such as bubble injection and diffusive air-sea gas exchange. Noble gases have successfully been used in the open ocean to construct air-sea gas exchange parameterizations. However, they have not been used in the coastal zone because the heterogeneity in coastal regions makes measurements of the noble gases by traditional means impractical. The PI requests funding to develop an underway mass spectrometer that can measure a suite of noble gases (Ne, Kr, and Xe) from the underway system of a ship. The system could be used in coastal zones to produce a gas exchange parameterization specifically designed for coastal regions. In addition, it could be used to quantify gas exchange in other heterogeneous environments, such as around ice floes, and could be used on icebreakers to study sea ice formation. Broader Impacts: The design of the proposed system will be made widely available through peer-reviewed and web-posted publications, which will include the detailed information necessary for replication of this system by interested research groups. The measurements made using the EIMS-NoG will serve to improve current knowledge of coastal areas air-sea gas exchange rates, and clarify the role of such regions as CO2 sinks/sources. The PI is involved in mentoring of a number of undergraduate students, including female students (through Summer Student and Minority Fellowship program). The PI will also be using the instrument as an educational tool for a large number of undergraduate students (45) during cruises of R/V Tioga, the ship where the instrument will be housed through the large period of the project.