ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access originally published online on June 26, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2008 65(8):1498-1503; doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn110
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This article appears in the following ICES Journal of Marine Science issue: Marine Environmental Indicators: Utility in Meeting Regulatory Needs [View the issue table of contents]
An operational monitoring system to provide indicators of CO2-related variables in the ocean
1 Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, Plymouth, UK
2 School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
3 Met Office, Fitzroy Road, Exeter, UK
4 British Oceanographic Data Centre, Joseph Proudman Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
5 Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK
6 Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Joseph Proudman Building, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
7 National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, Empress Dock, Southampton, UK
Correspondence to N. J. Hardman-Mountford: tel: +44 01752 633429; fax: +44 01752 633101; e-mail: nhmo{at}pml.ac.uk
Hardman-Mountford, N. J., Moore, G., Bakker, D. C. E., Watson, A. J., Schuster, U., Barciela, R., Hines, A., Moncoiffé, G., Brown, J., Dye, S., Blackford, J., Somerfield, P. J., Holt, J., Hydes, D. J., and Aiken, J. 2008. An operational monitoring system to provide indicators of CO2-related variables in the ocean. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1498–1503.Demand by governments and scientists is increasing for indicators of CO2-related variables for the ocean. We describe a recent project, CARBON-OPS, during which a "supply chain" was developed for automated measurement of pCO2 in the surface of the ocean, data processing, and its use in providing information for research and policy development. Data are gathered by new pCO2 measurement systems on five UK research ships in the Southern Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and northwestern European shelf seas. These send data in near-real-time, via satellite communication systems, to the British Oceanographic Data Centre, where they are automatically processed, quality controlled, and archived. The data are then delivered to the UK Met Office and others for use in testing predictions from operational ocean models. These models will generate indicator products and assist government through the Marine Climate Change Impact Partnership, a partnership of scientists, government, its agencies, and NGOs, by providing information on ocean CO2 uptake, changes in ocean pH, and potential impacts on global climate and marine ecosystems.
Keywords: autonomous systems, carbon dioxide, CO2, forecast, indicators, models, ocean acidification, operational oceanography, pH
Received 23 November 2007; accepted 13 May 2008; advance access publication 26 June 2008.