CAREER: Toward a Sensor-Laden Future Ocean

海洋在地球碳的运输和封存方面发挥着关键作用。在海面吸收的二氧化碳可以直接俯冲或固定成有机形式，并通过生物碳泵（BCP）输送到深处。为了进一步了解海洋在碳循环中的作用，需要新技术来量化碳通量，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的新型水跟随（拉格朗日）浮子，该浮子将使BCP在整个暮光区（阳光照射的表面层下方）的广泛分布观测成为可能。 微型、低成本的MINION配备了压力、温度和氧气传感器，以及沉降颗粒的延时成像。将对浮标进行修改，以包括数据遥测、地下声学地理定位、自动压载和垂直流速测量。这些发展将使一次性MINION能够比传统的浮标部署更多的数量。它们将在即将到来的实地活动中机会性地被释放，并通过罗得岛大学的一个大挑战教育项目。实现广泛分布和高密度的观测将代表在理解碳通量变化、粒子特性、地下扩散以及碳进入海洋边缘地带后的命运方面取得的重大进展。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.