Optimizing Ocean Acidification Observations for Model Parameterization in the Coupled Slope Water System of the U.S. Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem

Lead by Grace Saba, Rutgers University

The U.S. Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem supports some of the nation’s most economically valuable coastal fisheries, and most of this revenue comes from shellfish that are sensitive to ocean acidification (OA). This research team, led by Dr. Saba at Rutgers, plans to add seasonal deployments of underwater gliders equipped with sensors, including newly developed pH sensors,to understand how the ocean chemistry in this region varies on seasonal timescales relevant to organism ecologies and life histories. They also plan to improve existing regional sampling with additional carbonate chemistry measurements on other platforms in several key locations, and compiling and integrating this new information with existing OA assets. The researchers will then apply these data to an existing ocean ecosystem/biogeochemical (BGC) model to explore how carbonate chemistry is changing on the Northeast Shelf. The model will then be used to test hypotheses focused on the drivers of OA and identify locations are for long term OA monitoring.

An observing system optimization study for ocean acidification along the central and northern California coast

Lead by Christopher Edwards, University of California Santa Cruz:

Dr. Edwards, University of California Santa Cruz, plans to conduct an observing system optimization study to assess how well the monitoring platforms that are currently deployed represent regional exposure to ocean acidification (OA) along the central and northern California coast and to identify opportunities for improvement. This region is particularly exposed to OA risk due to its upwelling that brings low pH and low oxygen subsurface waters of the north Pacific Ocean to the surface in nearshore coastal environments. Many animals are vulnerable to low pH, including species found at the base of food webs, such as pteropods and krill, and commercially and ecologically important fisheries species, such as Dungeness crab and red sea urchins. There are a number of observing assets in the region that record OA-related information, but the efficacy of the network as a whole has not been evaluated. This project will investigate how the observation network as a whole quantitatively constrains data assimilative model estimates of OA conditions throughout the central California Current System (CCS).