National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24148 Kiel, Germany.
Sensors (Basel). 2018 Aug 10;18(8):2622. doi: 10.3390/s18082622.
Increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations are resulting in a reduction in seawater pH, with potential detrimental consequences for marine organisms. Improved efforts are required to monitor the anthropogenically driven pH decrease in the context of natural pH variations. We present here a high resolution surface water pH data set obtained in summer 2011 in North West European Shelf Seas. The aim of our paper is to demonstrate the successful deployment of the pH sensor, and discuss the carbonate chemistry dynamics of surface waters of Northwest European Shelf Seas using pH and ancillary data. The pH measurements were undertaken using spectrophotometry with a Lab-on-Chip pH sensor connected to the underway seawater supply of the ship. The main processes controlling the pH distribution along the ship's transect, and their relative importance, were determined using a statistical approach. The pH sensor allowed 10 measurements h with a precision of 0.001 pH units and a good agreement with pH calculated from a pair of discretely sampled carbonate variables dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA) and partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) (e.g., pH). For this summer cruise, the biological activity formed the main control on the pH distribution along the cruise transect. This study highlights the importance of high quality and high resolution pH measurements for the assessment of carbonate chemistry dynamics in marine waters.
大气中二氧化碳浓度的增加导致海水 pH 值降低，这可能对海洋生物产生不利影响。需要加强努力，在自然 pH 值变化的背景下监测人为驱动的 pH 值下降。我们在此介绍了 2011 年夏季在西北欧大陆架海域获得的高分辨率地表水 pH 值数据集。本文的目的是展示 pH 传感器的成功部署，并利用 pH 值和辅助数据讨论西北欧大陆架海域地表水的碳酸盐化学动态。使用分光光度法和与船上海水供应相连的芯片实验室 pH 传感器进行 pH 值测量。使用统计方法确定控制船舶横截面上 pH 值分布的主要过程及其相对重要性。pH 传感器允许每小时进行 10 次测量，精度为 0.001 pH 单位，并且与从离散采样的一对碳酸盐变量（溶解无机碳 (DIC)、总碱度 (TA) 和二氧化碳分压 (pCO₂)）计算得出的 pH 值具有良好的一致性。对于这次夏季航行，生物活动是航行横截面上 pH 值分布的主要控制因素。本研究强调了高质量和高分辨率 pH 值测量对于评估海洋水中碳酸盐化学动态的重要性。
