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Protecting the marine environment with low-impact hydrocarbon sensing

07.11.2023

Excerpt: The challenge There are nearly 500 oil and gas structures nearing end-of-life in UK waters alone, and thousands worldwide. Decommissioning of these structures typically requires environmental assessment and continued monitoring, which currently relies on dedicated ships and teams of people offshore. As the UK transitions towards Net-Zero, low carbon solutions are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions whilst maintaining the capability to carry out effective surveys. To achieve this, low cost and long-range vehicles are required, along with a suite of low power and accurate sensors. The solution The Autonomous Techniques for infraStructure Ecological Assessment (AT-SEA) project, led by NOC, explored the use of Autosub Long Range (AKA Boaty McBoatface) to survey the NW Hutton and Miller decommissioned infrastructures andRead more

Jerico: A Single Turnover Active Fluorometry sensor LabSTAF tested successfully in the oligotrophic Cretan Sea PSS

24.03.2022

Excerpt: The Cretan Sea (CS) is a subpart of the ultra-oligotrophic eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this area, major research challenges include gaining a better understanding of the trends and drivers of pH and the air-sea CO2 flux as well as improving our estimates of net primary productivity (a large part of the primary production being at depths out of satellite reach for most of the year). The JERICO-S3 Cretan Sea Pilot Supersite (PSS) aims to demonstrate the contribution of a PSS approach to study such challenges via six actions: #1 Solubility and biological pumps; #2 Improved approximations of primary production; #3 Extreme events affecting phytoplankton – AQUACOSM collaboration; #4 Upscale of regional data to a wider area; #5 New sampling strategies,Read more

AMT29 research cruise

09.03.2020

Excerpt: The overall aim of the Atlantic Meridional Transect programme is to quantify key biogeochemical and ecosystem processes and their inherent variability over extended temporal and spatial scales in the Atlantic Ocean. This is achieved by executing an annually repeated meridional transect through contrasting oceanic provinces, ranging from oligotrophic deep blue waters, to highly productive shelf seas. The AMT is funded as part of the Natural Environmental Research Council’s National Capability. Its specific objectives are: To quantify the nature and causes of ecological and biogeochemical variability in planktonic ecosystems. To quantify the effects of this variability on nutrient cycling, on the export of organic matter and on the air-sea exchange of climate active gases. To construct multi-decadal, multidisciplinary ocean time-series whichRead more