Toward a Harmonization for Using in situ Nutrient Sensors in the Marine Environment

Type Article
Date 2020-01
Language English
Author(s) Daniel Anne1, Laes-Huon AgatheORCID2, Barus Carole3, Beaton Alexander D.4, Blandfort Daniel5, Guigues Nathalie6, Knockaert Marc7, Munaron DominiqueORCID8, Salter Ian9, 10, Woodward E. Malcolm S.11, Greenwood Naomi12, Achterberg Eric P.13
Affiliation(s) 1 : Laboratoire Ecologie Pélagique, Unité Dynamiques des Écosystèmes Côtiers, Ifremer, Plouzané, France
2 : Laboratoire Détection, Capteurs et Mesures, Unité Recherches et Développements Technologiques, Ifremer, Plouzané, France
3 : Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales, UMR 5566, CNRS/UPS/CNES/IRD, Toulouse, France
4 : Ocean Technology and Engineering Group, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom
5 : Institut für Küstenforschung, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany
6 : Pôle Chimie et Biologie, Direction de la Métrologie Scientifique et Industrielle, LNE, Paris, France
7 : ECOCHEM, Operationele Directie Natuurlijk Milieu, Ostend, Belgium
8 : MARBEC, Ifremer, Sète, France
9 : Faroe Marine Research Institute, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
10 : Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany
11 : Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom
12 : Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, United Kingdom
13 : GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany
Source Frontiers In Marine Science (2296-7745) (Frontiers Media SA), 2020-01 , Vol. 6 , N. 773 , P. 22p.
DOI 10.3389/fmars.2019.00773
WOS© Times Cited 15
Keyword(s) nutrient, EOVs, in situ sensor, data comparability, marine biogeochemistry, ocean observing systems
Abstract

Improved comparability of nutrient concentrations in seawater is required to enhance the quality and utility of measurements reported to global databases. Significant progress has been made over recent decades in improving the analysis and data quality for traditional laboratory measurements of nutrients. Similar efforts are required to establish high-quality data outputs from in situ nutrient sensors, which are rapidly becoming integral components of ocean observing systems. This paper suggests using the good practices routine established for laboratory reference methods to propose a harmonized set of deployment protocols and of quality control procedures for nutrient measurements obtained from in situ sensors. These procedures are intended to establish a framework to standardize the technical and analytical controls carried out on the three main types of in situ nutrient sensors currently available (wet chemical analyzers, ultraviolet optical sensors, electrochemical sensors) for their deployments on all kinds of platform. The routine reference controls that can be applied to the sensors are listed for each step of sensor use: initial qualification under controlled conditions in the laboratory, preparation of the sensor before deployment, field deployment and finally the sensor recovery. The fundamental principles applied to the laboratory reference method are then reviewed in terms of the calibration protocol, instrumental interferences, environmental interferences, external controls, and method performance assessment. Data corrections (linearity, sensitivity, drifts, interferences and outliers) are finally identified along with the concepts and calculations for qualification for both real time and time delayed data. This paper emphasizes the necessity of future collaborations between research groups, reference-accredited laboratories, and technology developers, to maintain comparability of the concentrations reported for the various nutrient parameters measured by in situ sensors.

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Daniel Anne, Laes-Huon Agathe, Barus Carole, Beaton Alexander D., Blandfort Daniel, Guigues Nathalie, Knockaert Marc, Munaron Dominique, Salter Ian, Woodward E. Malcolm S., Greenwood Naomi, Achterberg Eric P. (2020). Toward a Harmonization for Using in situ Nutrient Sensors in the Marine Environment. Frontiers In Marine Science, 6(773), 22p. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00773 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00603/71521/