A Collaborative Assessment of Coastal Ocean Acidification Monitoring in Maine & Standard Operating Procedures and Best Practices for the Collection of Continuous pH Data in Coastal Marine Environments

Christopher W Hunt , Curtis Bohlen, Mike Doan, Jeremy Miller

The ‘Sensor Squad’ of the Maine Ocean Climate Collaborative is the product of a 2023 Maine Coastal and Marine Climate Action Fund grant to conduct “A two-year pilot project designed to address and overcome technological barriers to ocean acidification data collection, develop protocols to elevate quality assurance and ensure comparable data, and meet regularly to discuss project results and data compilation”. The Squad consists of representatives from Friends of Casco Bay (FOCB), Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (WNERR), and the University of New Hampshire (UNH). This report is a summary of their efforts to assess affordable, repeatable means of continuously monitoring ocean acidification.

Ocean and coastal acidification (OCA) are a growing concern, and efforts to monitor these changing and potentially damaging conditions are still emerging. This project will inform additional organizations that are working in collaborative ways to understand and track OCA and address goals of both the Maine Ocean Acidification Study Commission and the Maine Climate Council.

The project involves field and lab studies to evaluate a glass electrode pH sensor, and then investigations into the use of a regression model to calculate total alkalinity as a second carbonate parameter.