Time-series and Underway Assessments of

Ocean Acidification and Carbon System

Properties in Coastal Waters

Wei-Jun Cai,

Xinping Hu,

Scott Noakes,

Joe Salisbury,

Doug Vandemark,

Robert Byrne 1 UMASS Dartmouth

2 University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee

NGI Annual Meeting 2012

Acknowledgements

This project has been supported by funding from

NOAA through the Northern Gulf Institute

(Award# 191001363558-02/ Task Order 14) with

additional support from NASA (Award#

NNX10AU06G).

The project supports goals of the NACP and

OCB programs

Overview

Introduction – Atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean acidification

Project Goals

Approach/Results

Coastal MS and Gulf of Mexico (USM, UGA)

Gray’s Reef/South Atlantic Bight (UGA)

Gulf of Maine (UNH)

Underway pCO2 (USF, NOAA)

New Opportunities

GOMECC-2

Waveglider

Education and Outreach

Summary

Introduction

Atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise as a result of

fossil fuel emissions:

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/

Introduction

Uptake of CO2 by the ocean represents a significant

sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but also alters

ocean chemistry, reducing pH (increasing acidity)

http://oceanacidification.nas.edu/

http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-system/ocean-carbon-cycle/

Photosynthesis

The Carbon Cycle

Interplay of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and

Geology

Project Goals The principal goals for the NOAA Ocean and Great Lakes

Acidification Research Implementation Plan are to: develop the monitoring capacity to quantify and track ocean

acidification in open-ocean, coastal, and Great Lake systems;

assess the response of marine and freshwater organisms to ocean and lake acidification;

forecast biogeochemical and ecological responses to acidification;

provide a synthesis of ocean and Great Lake acidification data and information that aids in development of tools for managing coastal, open ocean, and Great Lakes ecosystems and preparing human communities for potential OA-related changes;

and provide information about ocean acidification to educators and develop materials for public outreach.

This project involves a close collaboration with NOAA scientists to provide information critical to NOAA’s mission and global concerns regarding ocean acidification and its impacts on ecosystems.

Approach/Results

Monitoring sites in Gulf and off

East Coast provide a range of

sites for comparison

Northern Gulf site leverages an

IOOS/GCOOS/CenGOOS

buoy

Gray’s Reef site leverages a

NOAA/NDBC buoy

Gulf of Maine leverages an

IOOS/NERACOOS/UNH buoy

http://cdiac.ornl.gov/oceans/Coastal/

Approach

NOAA/PMEL System

MAPCO2

SAMI pH

SeaBird MicroCat

Optode Oxygen Sensor

Gulf of Maine

Gulf of Maine

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pCO2

pH

Gray’s Reef (SAB)

Seasonal pCO2, but not

all variability tied to SST

Low pCO2 in winter

months and high in

summer

Gray’s Reef (SAB)

Validation

Time07/06 01/07 07/07 01/08 07/08 01/09 07/09 01/10 07/10 01/11

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R/V Nancy Foster

R/V Savannah

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-83 -82 -81 -80 -79 -78 -77 -7631.231.431.631.8

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250265280295310325340355370385400415430445460475490

Rapid increases in pCO2 from

inshore to mid-shelf in South

Atlantic Bight

Cai, 2005 unpublished

CenGOOS Buoy in the

Mississippi Bight with NOAA CO2/pH/dO System

NOAA CO2 System

CenGOOS System & Total Surface Currents

May 20, 2010 00:00 UTC

NGI: Monitoring and Assessment of

Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in

the Northern Gulf (2007-2011)

Continuous Profiles

CTD (SBE49)

Dissolved Oxygen (SBE43)

Absorption/Attenuation meter ac9

Backscattering BB9

Chlorophyll, CDOM, Phycoeythrin fluoresence (FL3)

Discrete Samples

• Trace Metals

• Salinity • Dissolved Oxygen • SPM

• NUTS • CDOM

• Pigments • Phytoplankton

Abundance

Mississippi Gulf Coast

Time-series off Mississippi Gulf Coast show higher pCO2

values in late summer and fall and low in spring

Mississippi Gulf Coast

Relationship to salinity

4/15/2011 5/1/2011 5/15/201116

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Salini

ty

Date

LSU Earth Scan Laboratory Bonnet Carre Spillway. Opened May 9, 2011

River Input Affects

GulfCarbon pCO2

Huang, Cai et al.

Satellite-derived pCO2

• Net sink inshore in June and net source offshore

• Source in Sep

CenGOOS Site an Oceanic Sink

Most of the Year

Braatz, 2011

USF Underway Measurements

Multi-Parameter Inorganic Carbon Analyzer (MICA)

DIC

TA

pH

pCO2

Ships of Opportunity

GOMECC-2

Gulf of Mexico and East Coast Carbon

Cruise (GOMECC)

R/V Ronald H. Brown, RB-07-05 10 July – 4 August, 2007

Galveston, TX – Boston, MA USA Chief Scientists: Tsung-Hung Peng and Chris Langdon

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

CO2 Waveglider Northern Gulf Pilot Project NGI/USM, NOAA AOML, Liquid Robotics

NOAA/PMEL Utilizing Wave Gliders for Ocean CO2 and Acidification Monitoring

Waveglider surfboard

Waveglider tethered subsurface

Waveglider instrument package

Education and Outreach

Andrea Braatz MS USM 2011

Climate Change Community Outreach Initiative 29-

September, 2011, Institute of Marine Mammals, Gulfport,

MS.

Sponsored by NOAA Education Office

For Middle School Science Teachers.

Summary

This project provides time-series observations of coastal ocean pH and carbon system properties in various coastal regions in support of NOAA goals

The northern Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Bight regions are commonly influenced by one contiguous western boundary current system, which originates with the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico and then becomes the Gulf Stream along the southeastern U.S. continental shelf

The Gulf Coast site is strongly influenced by freshwater discharge, while the SAB and Gulf of Maine sites show strong seasonal patterns

Work is ongoing to examine relationship of carbon dioxide and pH to environmental forcings