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Argo-Oxygen Program Overview. White paper produced by writing team lead by Nicolas Gruber Scientific justification for measuring sub-seasonal to decadal O 2 changes: O 2 is rather sensitive to changes in circulation and biology
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Argo-Oxygen Program Overview • White paper produced by writing team lead by Nicolas Gruber • Scientific justification for measuring sub-seasonal to decadal O2 changes: • O2 is rather sensitive to changes in circulation and biology • Subsurface O2 changes are an indication of oceanic export production • Important to understand ocean O2 outgassing for interpretation of the atmospheric O2 record • New sensor technology means drift and accuracy can be within the required limits OOPC 12th Session UNESCO
Argo-Oxygen Program update • White paper presented to the AST-8 in March • Well received & AST supported Dr Gruber’s propsal for a coordinated pilot study • AST concerned over the effect on battery life, float failure rates, cost, and implications for current legal agreements • For the pilot study, it was agreed that SIC would oversee the project for the next phase and that Dr Gruber will continue to lead the Argo-Oxygen team. OOPC 12th Session UNESCO
Technical issues • Choice of floats (ARGOS vs Iridium) • CTD pumps, data upload rates • Sensors types (IDO vs Optode) • Accuracy, drift • Adding O2 reduces battery life by 10-30% (can be compensated by more efficient Seabird CTD pump) • Increased cost (inc. sensors, data transfer) is 20-30%, and around 40% when reduced float lifetime is taken into account OOPC 12th Session UNESCO
Implementation Phase • Deploy around 100 floats in a concentrated area of scientific interest (i.e. Nth Atlantic, Nth Pacific) • Cost for 2 years of floats ~$2.5M + ship time + regular Winkler titrations from ships to validate float obs • Integrate pilot study with i.e. biogechemical modelling studies to estimate export production OOPC 12th Session UNESCO