CAREER: Toward a Sensor-Laden Future Ocean

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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.