How Emerging Technologies Can Advance the Frontiers in the Geosciences I
Presiding: R van der Hilst, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; M McNutt, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
U23B-01 13:30h
Introduction to Special Session on Emerging Technologies
The history of science is filled with exciting examples of cases when research into the fundamental laws of nature have led to technological spin-offs that greatly improved our quality of life. At the same time, there are numerous examples of scientists seizing on the promise of new technology to probe the natural world in new dimensions. This session focuses on the latter type of interaction between science and technology. In this brief introduction, I will give some examples of ways in which the application of new technology (broadly defined as platforms, sensors, control systems, and data management systems) are reaping substantial rewards in the solution to important problems. Examples of the way we benefit are from being able to - Sample environments or time scales we couldn't access before; - Measure in situ properties that would be altered by the process of sampling; - Perform our science more safely and affordably; and - Bring the results of experimentation and observation to a much wider group of researchers and other stakeholders.
U23B-02 INVITED 13:35h
Enabling the assessment of a high CO2/low pH ocean: Is a Free Ocean CO2 Enrichment (FOCE) experiment possible?
Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments are now commonplace on land, and a large international network of sites exists. In sharp contrast there is as yet no equivalent ocean network. Yet it is in the ocean where the effects of elevated CO2 levels may have the greatest ecosystem impact. The ocean already holds some 500 billion tons of fossil fuel CO2, and the current invasion rate from the atmosphere is approximately 1 million tons CO2 per hour. Ocean surface pH values are already 0.1 pH units lower than pre-industrial, and a drop of 0.3 pH units is predicted by the middle of this century. The promise of cabled observatories in the ocean, which can provide the power and communications necessary for experimental control, opens the door to a new class of ocean experiments to investigate these impacts. The challenge is large both technically and scientifically. In air CO2 simply mixes, with no chemical reactions of concern. In sea water a series of reactions occurs, with significant kinetic lags, which present complex detection and control problems. We have initiated an attack on this problem. We have designed and are field testing a prototype system in which the H+ and CO2 concentration in a free volume of sea water may be elevated to simulate the conditions predicted for the later part of this century. This requires active feedback of current velocity and pH data to a controller to maintain experimental stability. This system should enable the study of important biogeochemical systems such as coral reefs, benthic fauna, and carbonate dissolution studies. For short term testing small volumes of acid or CO2 may be delivered from self-contained packages. For long term experiments a small bore pipe would be required to deliver the required volumes.
U23B-03 INVITED 13:55h
Contribution of Advanced Satellite Imaging Technologies to a Systematic, Integrated Program of Aerosol Observation and Modeling
Improving our ability to distinguish natural and anthropogenic influences on aerosol climate forcing and air quality requires systematic measurements that can be integrated with predictive models. Satellites provide essential global perspectives on aerosol distributions, microphysical properties, and radiative effects. Certain information, such as details of aerosol chemical composition, cannot be obtained from space. In this paper, we describe a systematic, integrated approach to global aerosol characterization, called the Progressive Aerosol Retrieval and Assimilation Global Observing Network (PARAGON). This concept envisions using modern measurement and modeling techniques, geospatial statistics methodologies, and high-performance information technologies to provide the machinery necessary for achieving a comprehensive understanding of how aerosol physical, chemical, and radiative processes impact the Earth system. One aspect of PARAGON is the establishment of a cohesive long-term aerosol record. In conjunction with chemical transport models, an advanced satellite imager will provide an integrating function to the data from samplers, surface radiometers, and lidars. We present a concept for an instrument whose design goals include microphysical aerosol characterization using spectral coverage from the near-UV to the shortwave infrared; intensity and polarimetric imaging over multiple view angles; sub-kilometer spatial resolution for cloud discrimination and stereoscopic aerosol plume height retrieval; and global coverage within a few days. The most challenging instrument requirement is measurement of the degree of linear polarization with an uncertainty of 0.5% or less. Electrooptic signal processing within a high-reflectance optical design can be used to achieve this objective. The benefits of such an instrument within the PARAGON context include (1) retrieval accuracies that meet stringent climate and environmental requirements on aerosol radiative and microphysical properties, (2) multi-measurement simultaneity, enabling synergistic use of information that has previously been acquired and analyzed only separately, and (3) global imaging to provide three-dimensional constraints on chemical transport models and frequent overflights of surface radiometer, lidar, and in situ sampling networks.
U23B-04 14:15h
Autonomous, Near Real-time Detection of Marine Microorganisms using the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP)
Marine microbes play an essential role in mediating many oceanic biogeochemical cycles. Identification of those microbes as well as genes and gene products driving such processes, typically require the return of discrete samples to a laboratory. However, the development and deployment of new classes of ocean observatories create unique opportunities for fielding novel instruments that eliminate or greatly reduce the need for returning samples to shore for such analyses. In a step towards realizing this goal, we are exploring use of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP), a novel instrument that employs a molecular based assay to detect water borne microorganisms remotely, subsurface, in near real-time. The current ESP prototype automates application of custom DNA probe arrays to reveal the presence of ecologically relevant microbes and transmits results of those assays to shore via radio modem. The ESP also archives discrete samples in support of variety of laboratory-based analyses. Here we discuss the feasibility of using this device to detect selected microbes and key gene products playing a role oceanic biogeochemical cycles, and consider the applicability of this instrument to studies of environments ranging from surface waters to deep-sea seeps and hydrothermal vents.
U23B-05 14:30h
Continuous in-situ Measurements of Nutrient Fluxes Within a Physically Complex Coastal Environment
Accurate measurements of nutrient fluxes within and through coastal aquatic systems are difficult to achieve by traditional sampling methods due to small-scale complexity and undersampling on both spatial and temporal scales. These issues are compounded by the influence of numerous end member sources or transformation processes, which can be highly variable and uncoupled from each other. In-situ nutrient sensors allow for high-resolution observations and provide the opportunity to monitor nutrient fluxes on a continuous basis. We have developed a coastal observatory system in Elkhorn Slough, California that allows for continuous monitoring of nutrient fluxes through the environment by combining nitrate, salinity, and temperature measurements with Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler estimates of water velocity. By calibrating the moored instruments with cross channel surveys, we are able to make estimates of nitrate fluxes that account for tidal mixing, seasonal nutrient inputs, and chemical transformations within the estuarine system. We will present results from one seasonal cycle of an ongoing project that demonstrate the significant advantages gained by the observatory network to measure nutrient fluxes in an estuarine environment.
U23B-06 14:45h
Development of an Advanced Respirometer for Experimental Studies of Benthic Rate Processes
Rates of carbon remineralization and nutrient cycling by seafloor biotic assemblages are influenced by the availability of organic material, temperature, and oxygen availability, among other factors. The relative importance of various factors in controlling carbon cycling by the sediment community is poorly constrained, in part by technological limits on experiments that evaluate independently the effects of these factors. We have developed an advanced respiration chamber system capable of repeated rate measurements during a single deployment, with added capabilities for manipulating conditions within replicate chambers to test hypotheses concerning biogeochemical cycling by the benthos. The ROV-deployed respiration system has 12 syringes for tracer injection or sample withdrawal from 3 respiration chambers, pH, oxygen, and temperature sensors, stirring paddles, and a recirculation pump. The pump system is used to flush each chamber at preprogrammed intervals or oxygen tensions. Areas of investigation that are enabled by the system include the effects various factors on benthic oxygen consumptions (e.g. hypercapnia (elevated CO2), acidosis, ambient oxygen availability, temperature, organic carbon availability), rates of nutrient regeneration by the benthos in response to organic enrichments (labile and refractory organic carbon), time lags in carbon uptake and trophic pathways in responses to organic enrichment.