Lead institution:
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) – New Zealand
This project will develop a cost-effective methodology detect and quantify gas bubbles seeping from the seafloor using broadband acoustic technology.
This methodology will be the first of its kind and will allow us to characterise the composition of gas released from the seafloor, and reliably quantify flux rates. This will transform environmental management, pollution control, and seafloor resource assessment in our ocean.
We will design a prototype of low frequency broadband systems, which does not exist on the market today, and develop numerical models of the behaviour of bubbles in the water. This will significantly enhance estimations of total fluxes of climate-warming gases like methane and carbon dioxide in our ocean, creating data that can be used in models to understand the impact of seafloor gas discharge on our coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Our work will enhance monitoring and prediction of the extent and impacts of gas exchange, now and under future climate scenarios.
This Project is hosted by the Ocean Decade Programme Ocean Decade Research Programme on the Maritime Acoustic Environment (UN-MAE)
Start Date: 10/01/2019
End Date: 30/07/2025
Lead Contact: Sally Watson (sally.watson@niwa.co.nz)