Project Goals
Our project is built around five central goals.
- Evaluate how regional ocean conditions and human activities would interact with OAE.
- Conduct realistic laboratory experiments that assess the biological impacts and the engineered safety of OAE.
- Conduct two small scale, highly monitored field trials of alkalinity enhancement.
- Use an ocean model to expand upon the field trial data To complement our field trials, we are using an advanced physical-biogeochemical coupled ocean model to simulate the potential effects of OAE in the broader region.
- Engage with communities who care about the impact of OAE on our regional water.
Goals
1.
Evaluate how regional ocean conditions and human activities would interact with OAE.
We combine publicly available data sets and community tools of regional physics, chemistry, and marine food web, ranging from small phytoplankton up to large marine mammals such as the North Atlantic Right Whales, and synthesize these into an in-depth picture of the North East Shelf region. This allows us to create a framework to identify suitable ocean regions for application of OAE research, while minimizing ecological impacts. By including commercial fishing activities, we also consider the sustainable usage of ocean resources, to maintain ocean health and the livelihood of coastal communities.
2.
Conduct realistic laboratory experiments that assess the biological impacts and the engineered safety of OAE.
Small, aquatic animals may be affected by the rapid changes in seawater pH and alkalinity associated with ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) applications. Several experimental studies to date suggest that long-term, low-level exposure to elevated pH during OAE field trials are unlikely to have negative effects on key ecosystem animals, such as copepods and the early life stages of fish. We are
conducting laboratory experiments on key copepod species in the Northwest Atlantic shelf, including the ecologically important Calanus finmarchicus and larval forms of commercially relevant fish and/or shellfish. Our experimental design will match expected dilution of sodium hydroxide after its release into seawater to study the physiological effects (including survival and swimming activity) of short-term exposures to high pH/alkalinity conditions, which are likely to persist for only seconds to minutes, as well as lower conditions that may persist for minutes or hours.
3.
Conduct two small scale, highly monitored field trials of alkalinity enhancement.
We bring together our team’s extensive ocean science, engineering, and observing expertise to conduct two controlled experiments in Federal waters offshore of Massachusetts:
- One dispersal of fluorescent, non-toxic water tracer dye (completed September 2023)
- One dispersal of liquid alkalinity (in the form of sodium hydroxide) and the water tracer dye (planned for 2025).
Each of these dispersals is followed by an intensive round-the-clock monitoring campaign. The experiments are sequentially staged to build our team’s practical experience at conducting at-sea experiments, refine our dispersal and monitoring methods, and contribute meaningful data on the real-world effectiveness and impacts of ocean alkalinity enhancement. We are working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency on permitting these field experiments. More information about the permitting can be found on the EPA website here.
4.
Use an ocean model to expand upon the field trial data.
To complement our field trials, we are using an advanced physical-biogeochemical coupled ocean model to simulate the potential effects of OAE in the broader region. By integrating data from our small-scale, controlled experiments and simulating tracer releases within the model, we can assess how OAE might influence the broader ocean system beyond the immediate study area. The model enables us to predict changes in tracer movement, water chemistry, carbon uptake, and potential impacts on marine ecosystems across different timescales and subregions. These simulations provide crucial insights into the scalability and safety of OAE as a potential climate intervention strategy, while also helping us evaluate how natural processes could influence its effectiveness.
This video simulation shows how a patch of dye would get carried and dispersed by tides and currents in wintertime (January, on the left) and in summertime (August, on the right). 30-day simulations are shown for 10 locations (colored dots) along the Northeast Shelf, with sea surface temperature as the background color, currents shown as arrows, and the dye concentration, as a percentage of the initial addition, shown as the color scale on the right.
5.
Engage with communities who care about the impact of OAE on our regional waters Consideration of community perspectives and concerns is an essential part of the LOC-NESS project, and is vital to engaging in mCDR research more broadly.
We seek to not only inform coastal communities about our research, but to also bring those communities into the decision-making process for the project. Through our engagement efforts, we are working with commercial and recreational fishing communities, indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, other commercial industries, local, state and federal regulatory agencies, and the public. Our engagement strategy includes targeted one-on-one meetings, presentations to interested community groups, LOC-NESS hosted workshops and listening sessions, and public speaking events. We are committed to engagement with concerned communities throughout the extent of the project, not only to receive and incorporate feedback on our project plans, but to also share the results of the field research so communities are informed about the outcomes.