Scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML) are on the cusp of radical advancements in climate science following the announcement of £750,000 of funding from independent grant-making charity the Wolfson Foundation.
The funding is being used to support PML’s multi-million pound ‘Advances in Air-Sea Exchange using Autonomy (ASEauto)’ project which will combine advanced instrumentation designed to study climate-relevant trace gases with a world-leading network of autonomous monitoring platforms including unmanned vessels, robotic submarines and data buoys.
The use of these remote technologies, which were launched last year as part of the PML-led SmartSound initiative (with support from the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the European Regional Development Fund), will enable the generation of unprecedented levels of data on the production and consumption of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, dimethylsulfide and ammonia in the marine environment and their exchange between the ocean and atmosphere.
These compounds are important for the climate because they are either greenhouse gases or influence the production and growth of particles in the atmosphere that reflect solar radiation away from the Earth’s surface.
Harnessing the latest in marine autonomy, in addition to PML’s established observation platforms (including the Western Channel Observatory and Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory) and world-class expertise in marine biogeochemistry and air-sea exchange, the ASEauto project is designed to radically improve current understanding and thus the accuracy of climate models.
This will improve climate change projections and support the design of vital climate change mitigation and adaption strategies and measures at local, national and international levels.
The Wolfson Foundation is committed to ‘improving the civic health of society, mainly through education and research’. Their investment will equip the autonomous platforms with a unique set of instruments including advanced sensors and automated water sampling technology. This, combined with state-of-the-art lab-based instrumentation, will create a unique and world-leading resource for Air-Sea Exchange research and help to further PML’s 30-year legacy at the forefront of ocean/ atmosphere gas exchange studies.
Icarus Allen, chief executive of PML said:
“We are delighted that the Wolfson Foundation has chosen to support the ASEauto project which will utilise the unique capabilities we have in marine autonomy here in Plymouth.
“Marine autonomous platforms are transforming oceanographic research by vastly increasing the frequency and coverage of observations compared with traditional sampling, and by collecting data in under-sampled environments and conditions.
ASEauto combines autonomous platforms with chemical sensors, samplers and instruments, which will enable us to quantify the fluxes of trace gases in estuarine, coastal, shelf sea and open ocean environments.
“It represents a step-change in our capacity to monitor and understand the underlying processes that are critical to our planet’s climate, and indeed human health.”
PML’s Air-Sea Exchange team has a strong track record in conducting world-leading science, pioneering new techniques, making novel observations, and generating new insights with many high impact publications on climate-relevant trace gases in the ocean.
