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\u00a9 GEORGE project<\/p>\n
CO2 levels are rising in our oceans, making them more acidic and affecting marine life and ecosystems. To better understand the ocean\u2019s role in taking up CO2 and regulating the rate of climate change, Europe needs state-of-the-art technology to improve ocean observations.<\/p>\n
Enter the GEORGE(opens in new window)<\/a> project, which was launched in 2023 to develop cutting-edge, multiplatform observing technologies to make European research infrastructures and the global ocean carbon observing community better able to observe the ocean\u2019s carbon cycle. The technologies developed will represent the next level in systematic long-term autonomous ocean observations.<\/p>\n Achieving a major breakthrough in these efforts, GEORGE project partner National Oceanography Centre (NOC), United Kingdom, has developed the world\u2019s first autonomous sensor capable of measuring total alkalinity (TA) at full ocean depth. As described in the article(opens in new window)<\/a> published in \u2018ACS Sensors\u2019, TA is a crucial parameter for understanding how the ocean absorbs and stores carbon.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA year\u2019s worth of data<\/p>\n In June 2025, GEORGE researchers embarked on a three-week-long cruise to the North-East Atlantic to test all its new sensors for ocean carbon measurements developed to date. Involving several autonomous platforms, with some of them operating for a full year, the testing took place approximately 500 km off the coast of Ireland, with one of the platforms measuring at a depth of nearly 5 km. New sensors were tested on autonomous ocean observing platforms used by the three major European marine research infrastructures \u2013 Euro-Argo, EMSO and ICOS.<\/p>\n New sensor technologies have been deployed for measurements of pH, TA and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) on autonomous underwater gliders, and new methods trialled for measuring CO2 fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere. As part of the research cruise to the North-East Atlantic, the team deployed these sensors as well as others measuring dissolved inorganic carbon on a cutting-edge autonomous seabed lander that will remain at a depth of 4 850 m for 12 months to monitor ocean chemistry.<\/p>\n The data that will be gathered could help explain temporal patterns in benthic biodiversity in the region and allow the research team to examine connections between carbon cycling on the surface and in the deep ocean waters. It will also pave the way for further advancements in ocean observing technologies, including autonomous communication and decision-making between platforms. \u201cThis deployment will be a real test for sensor robustness in a harsh deep ocean environment,\u201d states NOC ocean scientist Socratis Loucaides.<\/p>\n In addition to the new sensors, GEORGE has also developed a new gas-tight autonomous sampler, which was deployed for the first time as part of the research cruise, and will now sample seawater for a year on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory mooring in the North-East Atlantic, and preserve it for analysis the following year. The collected samples will enable the research team to validate sensor performance and measurement quality over the 12-month period.<\/p>\n The experiences from this major technology trial will help inform ongoing development of these technologies and their use for understanding the ocean\u2019s carbon system. GEORGE (Next generation multiplatform Ocean observing technologies for research infrastructures) aspires to advance the capability of European research infrastructures, such as the Integrated Carbon Observation System(opens in new window)<\/a>, Euro-Argo(opens in new window)<\/a> and EMSO(opens in new window)<\/a> to collect the data Europe needs for related policy decisions and climate negotiations.<\/p>\n