Open Ocean Moorings

The open ocean moored CO₂ network is still in its infancy, but is slowly expanding into a global network of surface ocean and atmospheric CO₂ observations that will make a substantial contribution to the production of seasonal CO₂ flux maps for the global oceans. The long-term goal of this project is to populate the network of OCEAN Sustained Interdisciplinary Time-series Environment observation System (OceanSITES) so that CO₂ fluxes will become a standard part of the global flux mooring network. This effort has been endorsed by the OceanSITES science team. The moored CO₂ project contributes to NOAA's Program Plan For Building a Sustained Ocean Observing System for Climate by directly addressing key element (7) Ocean Carbon Network, but also provides a value added component to elements (3) Tropical Moored Buoys and (6) Ocean Reference Stations.