Resource Efficiency

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing a model and mesocosm experiments to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the marine carbon dioxide removal technique Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) in three major coastal areas in the United States. Unlike current models that lack ground-truth data to accurately simulate OAE, PNNL will conduct tank-based laboratory experiments to validate new models that may improve our capability to estimate the effectiveness of OAE.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is developing a system-on-a-chip for ocean carbon flux monitoring that would integrate the capabilities of several existing commercial sensors into a single miniature sensor chip, lightening the power requirements on ocean gliders and floats and reducing costs by an order of magnitude. The proposed system-on-a-chip would measure pH, oxygen, particulate organic carbon, and other variables.

[C]Worthy is developing a community framework for model building and data assimilation that would provide the structure and processes necessary to incorporate observations, manage model complexity, and meet the need for accurate carbon accounting for marine carbon dioxide removal. The proposed framework would incorporate observational and forcing datasets, data assimilation, an ocean general circulation model, biogeochemistry, tracers, and marine carbon dioxide removal and marine ecosystem modules to estimate the ocean’s state.

University of Pittsburgh is developing buoy-based optical fiber sensors for measuring pH and carbon dioxide in seawater from the ocean’s surface to the seafloor. Using chemically selective and optically sensitive coatings, the proposed project would integrate a fiber optic sensing technology into low-cost commercial fibers used for marine buoy sensor systems. A reel-to-reel continuous manufacturing approach enables straightforward large-scale manufacturing.

General Electric (GE) Global Research is developing a fiber optic sensor cable that would span multiple kilometers of ocean volume and measure chemical ocean carbon parameters over large areas when towed from marine vessels. Conventional methods take measurements of ocean pH and dissolved carbon dioxide in water using sensors that are fixed at one point or lowered slowly from a stationary vessel.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is developing a natural thorium decay sensor that would attach to gliders, autonomous vehicles, and profiling floats to quantify the flux rates of particulate organic carbon to the deep ocean for marine carbon dioxide removal. WHOI’s proposed sensor takes advantage of the naturally occurring radioactive isotope thorium-234, which provides a “clock”, much like carbon dating, that indicates the rate of carbon-containing planktonic detritus sinking from the surface to the deep ocean.

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is developing a biogeochemical computer model that improves our estimates of how the vast population of ocean zooplankton—tiny marine animals—move and lock away carbon in the deep ocean. Most ocean models treat zooplankton as a “black box” and lack key zooplankton behaviors that can result in carbon transport, leading to uncertainties in carbon accounting.

University of Utah is developing a micro-optical, micro-electronic seafloor probe that would extend the longevity and persistence of current-day seafloor carbon storage measurement tools. The proposed probes—deployed in a group across a wide seafloor area—would be inserted directly into the seafloor to measure the accumulation of carbon in ocean sediments for more than a year.

The Boeing Company will develop a comprehensive approach for mitigating aircraft induced cirrus that would leverage satellite observations, deep learning, new developments in onboard humidity sensors, and a numerical weather prediction model. Useful for flight planning, Boeing’s approach could improve observational datasets, forward scientific understanding of humidity in the upper troposphere, and advance weather forecasting capabilities for the general public.

RTX Technologies Research Center (RTRC) will develop a platform for a physics-informed forecast of aircraft induced cirrus potential 100 kilometers ahead of the aircraft (up to 10 minutes ahead of time). The platform would include a novel on-board lidar sensor for water vapor that would be installed on a small fraction of a fleet’s aircraft to furnish data and predictions for the entire fleet.