The success of the international effort to observe and understand the distribution carbon dioxide in the world ocean and in the lower marine troposphere depends heavily upon a effective universal system of quality control of the measurements of CO2 concentrations in seawater. In this project, researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography will continue their efforts to provide a mechanism for the quality control of the oceanic carbon dioxide measurements, in particular those that are made as part of international global programs. This will help to ensure that such measurements are comparable and accurate although made in different laboratories at different times; and will be an important factor in the design of a Global Ocean Observing System.
To achieve this, the project leader and his team will prepare and certify reference materials for the parameters of the oceanic carbon dioxide system: total dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, hydrogen ion concentration, pH, and d13C for a sample of sea water. These reference materials will be distributed to US and to international investigators to assist in the quality control of oceanic CO2 measurements. They will also be used to provide test samples for use in collaborative studies of the analytical methods that are used to determine these various parameters.
An important part of the project involves planning for the future. It is essential to assure a long-term supply of reference materials for future ocean science research, and it will be necessary to identify an agency or company that will take on this responsibility and relieve NSF of some of the burden. To encourage this, the investigators will interact with the US National Institute for Standards and Technology as well as with Ocean Scientific International (the IAPSO Standard Sea Water Service), and with various Japanese investigators to assess and recommend a plan for the future.
This activity will have important broader impacts. The provision of reference materials to the international community of carbon cycle researchers works to improve the overall quality of oceanic carbon data around the world. Thus it is a significant contribution to research infrastructure in this field. As an educational endeavor, the existence of such a laboratory at a major US oceanographic institution ensures that undergraduate students and graduate students that work in the lab alongside this reference material program benefit from the education in high-quality analytical techniques that is part and parcel of such a program, and also from the ancillary discussions associated with quality control and quality assurance.
