Federal funding will help researchers at the University of New Hampshire continue to monitor carbon dioxide levels in the Atlantic Ocean. UNH’s Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory has been awarded $270,764 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the ongoing study.

The funds will support continued operation of the NOAA-UNH ocean acidification buoy and the Great Bay environmental monitoring buoy, which are used to monitor CO2 levels and the effects of ocean acidification on coastal ecosystems. 

The funding comes as part of a five-year, $2 million-plus grant to help the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Observing Systems continue work in the Gulf of Maine and Great Bay. The association also includes the universities of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. It’s a regional component of the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, which spans coastal waters from Nova Scotia to Long Island.

UNH’s lead scientist, Joe Salisbury, will oversee efforts to monitor CO2 and the effects of acidification, sediment dynamics and nutrient loading. He will use UNH’s sentinel buoy, which for six years has floated in the Gulf of Maine north of Appledore Island, taking hourly readings of atmospheric and oceanic CO2.

“The reason why these observations are important, and why NOAA is so focused on them, is that we don’t yet have accurate predictive models for how carbon moves between the atmosphere and ocean, and the land and the ocean,” Salisbury said in a press release.

The data will help fishers and commercial shippers determine if conditions are safe, and will be shared with emergency managers issuing storm warnings. The Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Observing Systems is also advancing efforts to use the data for water quality monitoring, algal bloom predictions, and coastal flooding and erosion forecasting systems.