CAREER: Toward a Sensor-Laden Future Ocean

海洋在我们这个星球的碳的运输和封存中起着关键作用。被海面吸收的二氧化碳可被直接消减或固定为有机形式，并通过生物碳泵(BCP)输送到深处。为了促进对海洋在碳循环中的作用的了解，需要新的技术来量化碳通量并测量其随水平距离、时间/季节和深度的变化。这项研究支持开发一种名为MINION的新型水跟踪(拉格朗日)浮标，它将能够在整个黄昏区域(在阳光照射的表层之下)广泛地观测BCP。这个微型、低成本的跟班配备了压力、温度和氧气传感器，以及下沉颗粒的延时成像。将对浮标进行修改，以包括数据遥测、海底声学地理定位、自动压载和垂直水流速度测量。这些发展将使可消耗性附庸能够部署比传统花车更多的人数。他们将在即将到来的现场活动中被机会主义地释放，并通过罗德岛大学的大挑战教育计划被释放。实现广泛分布和高密度的观测将代表着在了解碳通量的可变性、颗粒特性、次表层扩散以及碳进入海洋的黄昏地带后的命运方面取得的重大进展。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The ocean plays a critical role in the transport and sequestration of our planet’s carbon. Carbon dioxide that is absorbed at the sea surface may be directly subducted or fixed into organic form and transported to depth via the biological carbon pump (BCP). To advance understanding of the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle, new technologies are needed to quantify carbon fluxes and measure their variability with horizontal distance, time/season, and depth. This research supports the development of a novel water-following (Lagrangian) float called MINION that will enable widely distributed observations of the BCP throughout the twilight zone (beneath the sun-lit surface layer). The miniature, low-cost MINION comes equipped with pressure, temperature, and oxygen sensors, as well as time-lapse imaging of sinking particles. The floats will be modified to include data telemetry, subsurface acoustic geolocalization, autoballasting, and measurements of vertical current velocity. These developments will enable expendable MINIONs to be deployed in larger numbers than could traditional floats. They will be released opportunistically during upcoming field campaigns, and through a Grand Challenge educational program at the University of Rhode Island. Achieving widely distributed and high-density observations will represent significant progress in the understanding of carbon flux variability, particle identity, subsurface dispersion, and the fate of carbon once it enters the twilight zone of the ocean.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.