12 research outputs found
Perspectives on in situ Sensors for Ocean Acidification Research
As ocean acidification (OA) sensor technology develops and improves, in situ
deployment of such sensors is becoming more widespread. However, the scientific
value of these data depends on the development and application of best practices
for calibration, validation, and quality assurance as well as on further development
and optimization of the measurement technologies themselves. Here, we summarize
the results of a 2-day workshop on OA sensor best practices held in February
2018, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, drawing on the collective experience and
perspectives of the participants. The workshop on in situ Sensors for OA Research was
organized around three basic questions: 1) What are the factors limiting the precision,
accuracy and reliability of sensor data? 2) What can we do to facilitate the quality
assurance/quality control (QA/QC) process and optimize the utility of these data? and
3) What sort of data or metadata are needed for these data to be most useful to future
users? A synthesis of the discussion of these questions among workshop participants
and conclusions drawn is presented in this paper
Better Regional Ocean Observing Through Cross-National Cooperation: A Case Study From the Northeast Pacific
The ocean knows no political borders. Ocean processes, like summertime wind-driven upwelling, stretch thousands of kilometers along the Northeast Pacific (NEP) coast. This upwelling drives marine ecosystem productivity and is modulated by weather systems and seasonal to interdecadal ocean-atmosphere variability. Major ocean currents in the NEP transport water properties such as heat, fresh water, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, pCO2, and pH close to the shore. The eastward North Pacific Current bifurcates offshore in the NEP, delivering open-ocean signals south into the California Current and north into the Gulf of Alaska. There is a large and growing number of NEP ocean observing elements operated by government agencies, Native American Tribes, First Nations groups, not-for-profit organizations, and private entities. Observing elements include moored and mobile platforms, shipboard repeat cruises, as well as land-based and estuarine stations. A wide range of multidisciplinary ocean sensors are deployed to track, for example, upwelling, downwelling, ocean productivity, harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification and hypoxia, seismic activity and tsunami wave propagation. Data delivery to shore and observatory controls are done through satellite and cell phone communication, and via seafloor cables. Remote sensing from satellites and land-based coastal radar provide broader spatial coverage, while numerical circulation and biogeochemical modeling complement ocean observing efforts. Models span from the deep ocean into the inland Salish Sea and estuaries. NEP ocean observing systems are used to understand regional processes and, together with numerical models, provide ocean forecasts. By sharing data, experiences and lessons learned, the regional ocean observatory is better than the sum of its parts
Adventive Vertebrates and Historical Ecology in the Pre-Columbian Neotropics
The arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere (ca. AD 1500) is generally used as a convenient reference point for signaling the early appearance of invasive faunas. Although use of this date embraces an implicit belief in benign landscape management by pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, substantial evidence for the anthropogenic movement of domesticated, wild, and synanthropic vertebrates throughout the Neotropics suggests that it may be an exaggerated and erroneous reference point for the aims of ecological restoration and biological conservation