[Coral-List] NOAA Offers a New Tool to Track Ocean Acidification in the Caribbean

Mark Eakin Mark.Eakin at noaa.gov
Thu Nov 13 11:09:37 EST 2008


NOAA Coral Reef Watch is pleased to announce a new tool for monitoring  
ocean acidification in the surface waters of the Greater Caribbean  
Region.  Through an innovative approach combining ship observations  
and satellite data, a detailed picture of ocean acidification across  
much of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico is now available.  The new  
tool is described in the October 31, 2008 issue of the Journal of  
Geophysical Research – Oceans and reveals significant ocean  
acidification across the region.  The study used four years of ocean  
chemistry observations provided by NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and  
Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) that were taken aboard the Royal  
Caribbean Cruise Line ship Explorer of the Sea.  The ship observations  
were used to develop a satellite-based model to discern changes in  
surface chemistry due to ocean acidification over the past two  
decades.  The article can be found at http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2008/2007JC004629.shtml


The new Ocean Acidification products are available at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/oa/ 
, along with animations of the changes since 1988.  The products will  
be updated the first week of each month.  The website provides  
regional maps of a variety of ‘ocean acidification’-relevant  
parameters and also hosts a series of other features including a  
regional time-series and an Introduction to Ocean Acidification  
discussion section.  Future work will expand this to other coral reef  
regions around the globe.


The new system allows NOAA to continuously estimate surface ocean  
carbonate chemistry at monthly timescales and reveals considerable  
seasonal variability, especially in waters around the Florida Keys.   
How this variability might affect the susceptibility of these reefs to  
future ocean acidification is uncertain but could be an important  
consideration when predicting the long-term impacts.

Authors of the paper are Dwight K. Gledhill, NOAA NESDIS Coral Reef  
Watch, E/RA31, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226;  
Rik Wanninkhof, NOAA OAR AOML, 4301 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL  
33149; Frank J. Millero, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, 4600,  
Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149; and C. Mark Eakin, NOAA NESDIS  
Coral Reef Watch, E/RA31, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD  
20910-3226.

All of the Coral Reef Watch experimental products are available at http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/current/experimental_products.html

For more information on this product suite and to request reprints,  
please contact Dwight.Gledhill at noaa.gov

Cheers,
Mark

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Mark Eakin, Ph.D.
Coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Center for Satellite Applications and Research
Satellite Oceanography & Climate Division
e-mail: mark.eakin at noaa.gov
url: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov

E/RA31, SSMC1, Room 5308
1335 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226
301-713-2857 x109                   Fax: 301-713-3136





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