The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) was established by the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring (FOARAM) Act of 2009. Ocean acidification (OA) is the ongoing change in ocean chemistry in response to the ocean’s uptake of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The OAP coordinates OA research, monitoring, and other activities to improve our understanding of how the chemistry of the ocean is changing, what are the primary regional drivers of that change, what impacts these changes are having on marine organisms, and what risk these changes may pose to U.S. marine dependent communities and economies. As part of its responsibilities, the OAP provides grants for research projects that explore the effects on marine organisms, ecosystems, and the socioeconomic impacts that can lead to potential adaptive strategies within US waters.
OAP is soliciting proposals for field projects that complement the core activities of two OA cruises: the West Coast Ocean Acidification cruise (WCOA) anticipated for summer 2024 and the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems and Carbon Cruise (GOMECC) anticipated for summer 2025. Projects should specifically address the requirements detailed in the OA Cruise Science Priority Guidance and be coordinated with other activities engaged on the cruise so as to optimally achieve the long-term monitoring goals of these repeated cruises to better understand changes in inorganic carbon dynamics due to anthropogenic carbon input and natural changes in the coastal and open ocean regions and identify and track marine biological metrics attributable to acidification conditions. Particular emphasis should be on those metrics that best inform our understanding of how regionally important fisheries may be impacted and/or how the marine biological carbon pump may be changing. Efforts should adhere to the community best-practices as these measures are necessary to determine patterns and evolution of status of OA conditions in coastal waters.
Each cruise is generally executed on a NOAA Global Class Research Vessel such as the NOAA Ship R/V Ronald H. Brown with an at-sea operational duration of approximately 40 days (see additional details for each cruise below under B. Program Priorities). The primary operations of these cruises consist of a series of sampling transects extending from nearshore and estuarine waters to deep stations beyond the shelf break for inter-comparison with GO-SHIP surveys. Along these transects, CTD/Niskin casts are performed to document the core biogeochemical properties at each station (approximately 100-150 stations total). Proposed projects should nest inside this operational configuration but may request special augmentations as necessary assuming accommodations can be provided (e.g. a limited set of selected stations could be targeted for diel measurements). Ultimately, any accepted projects will need to work within the time, lab-space, water budgeting, and ship capability constraints as determined by the OAP field operations manager and cruise chief scientists.
For information about program priorities, see Page 4 of the RFP document listed in Supporting Documents, below.
Estimated Total Program Funding:
