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Ocean Carbon gauge, now commercial

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CIOL Bureau
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COLUMBUS, OHIO: An analytical instrument designed to help scientists understand and predict climate change, the pCO2 monitoring system was developed as part of an innovative cooperative effort with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

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Battelle has announced that it has successfully transitioned the autonomous pCO2 monitoring system to its Blazer Parkway manufacturing center. This monitoring system is the first offering from Battelle’s Seaology platform of scientific instruments. Seaology sensors will offer integrated environmental assessment and monitoring capabilities, including characterization of physical, chemical, and biological parameters.

This analytical instrument measures the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) in the ocean and atmosphere, which is needed to understand the global ocean uptake of atmospheric CO2. The need for ocean carbon measurement is becoming increasingly important because high levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans have led to ocean acidification in surface waters, which could have significant effects on a variety of marine organisms and ecosystems.

The autonomous pCO2 monitoring system is now commercially available, tells a press note. “The commercial release of this important technology is testimony to the strong, cooperative effort between two non-profit organizations and a government agency” said Spencer Pugh, VP and Manager of Battelle’s Industrial and International Market Sector. The self-contained, modular design has the ability to be deployed on a wide variety of platforms and is designed to operate unattended for more than 12 months at a time. Currently, more than a dozen systems are placed on a variety of buoys around the world. NOAA is using this system to develop a global array of moored observation systems to determine air-sea flux in support of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

The system has a measurement range of 100 to 600 parts per million, with an extended range available upon request. The system also has a precision of about one part per million. The entire system is self-powered by batteries, contains compact flash memory storage and has an Iridium satellite communications link which allows data to be received in near real-time. This cost effective monitoring system is highly reliable and offers ease of operation, set-up and deployment.