EAGER research: An instrument setup for measuring air-water gas exchange by underwater eddy covariance in shallow-water marine systems

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI's requests funding to design, construct, and test a new instrument setup that will allow measurements of air-water gas exchange in shallow-water marine environments. This effort will benefit a large and broad group of aquatic scientists who use gas exchange estimates in their ecosystem studies. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students will be trained in high-frequency data acquisition with complex instruments and analysis of "big data" produced within this project. The PI's will design, construct, and test a new instrument setup that will allow this new application of the aquatic eddy covariance technique in shallow-water marine environments. This will be accomplished by applying their aquatic eddy covariance technique right below the air-water interface to measure air-water gas exchange. If successful, the new instrument setup will significantly improve the accuracy of gas exchange measurements for shallow-water marine systems, and as important, enhance the temporal and spatial resolution of these measurements. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.