EAGER: Development of a portable air-water flux system for methane

在我们对气候变化和海洋化学状态的理解中，一个重要的未知因素涉及海洋甲烷（CH 4）。许多研究对甲烷的海-气通量进行了测量。进行这些研究主要是为了评估海洋沉积物中大量甲烷储存对大气温室气体收支的贡献程度。这些研究大多依赖于收集离散的地表水样本和大气甲烷浓度的历史测量值以及气象数据。EAGER旨在设计和测试一种小型便携式装置，用于评估天然水系统（包括海洋、河口和湖泊）中甲烷的海-气通量。该仪器基于Pierrot等人[2009年]描述的为志愿观测船和研究船开发的pCO 2系统的小足迹设计。对pCO 2系统设计的修改之一是同时监测空气和来自平衡的再循环顶部空间，而不是交替分析和损失时间冲洗细胞。更广泛的影响对海洋社区的潜在好处有一个准确的量化甲烷源强度是重要的未来气候建模。一名来自STEM领域代表性不足的研究生将在这一新仪器的开发和现场测试期间接受培训。

A significant unknown in our understanding of climate change and the chemical state of the ocean involves oceanic methane (CH4). Numerous studies have conducted measurements of the sea-air flux of methane. These studies were conducted primarily to assess the extent to which the massive reservoir of methane in ocean sediments is contributing to the atmospheric greenhouse gas budget. Most of these studies have relied on collecting discrete surface water samples and historic measurements of atmospheric methane concentration and meteorological data. This EAGER seeks to to design and test a small portable unit for assessing the sea-air flux of methane in natural water systems including the ocean, estuaries, and lakes. This instrument is based on the small footprint design of the pCO2 systems developed for use on volunteer observing ships and research vessels and described by Pierrot et al. [2009]. One of the modifications to the pCO2 system design will be the simultaneous monitoring of both the air and the recirculated headspace from the equilibrator rather than alternating the analysis and losing time to flushing out the cells. Broader ImpactsThe potential benefit to ocean community of having an accurate quantification of methane source strengths is important to future climate modeling. A graduate student from an underrepresented group in STEM fields will be trained during the development and field testing of this new instrument.