About This Project

Our understanding of the changing coastal oceans, and how to mitigate against hazards and support food security, depends on good observations, globally. But progress in many countries is hampered by lack of resources. We seek funds to complete development and field testing of new low-cost instruments. Our test site will be Ghana, where we will train local scientists to use the instruments and to monitor impacts of mercury from illegal gold mining on coastal ecosystems and communities.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

The coastal ocean is home to globally important processes but also to vital fisheries and other resources on which large human populations depend. And it is undergoing major environmental change. There is thus an urgent need for reliable coastal ocean observations, both for the international scientific community and for the welfare of coastal communities, and protection against sealevel rise, storms and other evolving hazards. Yet, there is a major shortage of quality data from many regions, largely because oceanography is a very expensive science and facilities are lacking in many under-resourced countries. We are an international team of oceanographers working to address this problem by developing a package of low-cost instruments for physical, biological and chemical oceanography.

What is the significance of this project?

Marine data gathering is rapidly evolving thanks to automated observing platforms and sensors. However, not all parameters can be monitored and, with the exception of expensive mobile systems, data collection is “static”, at fixed locations and depths. Our project’s significance is its focus on low-cost versions of “old-school” tools for a range of physical, biological and chemical observations. Crucially, we will train people in under-resourced countries to use them for hands-on coastal oceanography. The portable package allows work in remote settings, from onshore wetlands to the continental shelf edge, and sampling and profiling can be done from small boats (kayaks to fishing boats), without need of a formal research vessel. Likewise, analyses can be done without a formal laboratory.

What are the goals of the project?

Our overall goals are to deliver an affordable package of oceanographic tools and to train oceanographers. We have assembled a package of instruments that cost small fractions of commercial equivalents. The package includes essential tools for physical (CTD, current meters) and biological (plankton nets, planktoscope) oceanography, and we seek here to complete development of inexpensive 3D-printed colorimeters and fluorimeters for diverse chemical analyses. We will then field-test the new instruments in Ghana, against commercial counterparts, as part of a study on the impacts of mercury contamination on estuarine ecosystems and fishing communities. We will train Ghanaian personnel and conduct studies in two estuaries; the Ghanaian team will use the package in a follow-up field campaign.