Grant Awarded to Develop New CO2 Sensor for the SK1000™

In August, the US National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP) awarded Dr. Govind Rao of the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus a three-year grant totaling $1,180,828 to develop new ocean sensor technology in collaboration with SeaKeepers, NOAA and a commercial company, Fluormetrix.

The NOPP is a consortium of nine US government agencies that coordinate oceanographic funding. Among the agencies, the most recognized are: NOAA, NASA, US Navy and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

[Pictured: Dr. Rao, Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering and Director off the Center for Advanced Sensor Tehnology at UMBC.]

The proposal submitted by Dr. Rao addresses the development of the next generation of biological, chemical, optical, and bio-optical measurements, specifically measurement of pCO2 in the near surface oceanic range from diverse locations on SeaKeeper 1000TM platforms. The new technology will help track biogeochemical processes in the ocean and inform interested members of the local community about changes in coastal conditions, as well as provide much needed data to the scientific community.

According to the NSF review, “The scientific merit is high and the technical merit is very high. By selecting the SeaKeeper 1000TM as the platform for this novel sensor, data accessibility and communication are assured. SeaKeepers already provides these data and communication capabilities.”

The project, effusively titled Integration of an Emerging Highly Sensitive Optical CO2 Sensor for Ocean Monitoring on an Existing Data Acquisition System SeaKeeper 1000™ is intended to develop an inexpensive, yet more precise carbon dioxide sensor that will stay calibrated for long intervals. Monitoring CO2 is extremely important in following the trail of greenhouse gas and the resulting acidification of the ocean.

Successful completion of this research and development project will produce a sensor with a two-orders-of-magnitude improvement in precision at no increase in cost. These factors are very significant, not only in terms of technical achievement, but as applied engineering/science given the paramount importance of the better monitoring of CO2 levels.

“We are excited and proud that Dr. Rao and NOPP have validated SeaKeepers’ importance as a scientific observing system,” says SeaKeepers Chairman of the board Michael T. Moore. The joint project will significantly enhance SeaKeepers’ existing suite of oceanographic sensors and add to the critical data already being collected by the award-winning SeaKeeper 1000™ system.

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