Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist Wade McGillis traveled to the North Sea in March of 2000 in search of high winds.
High winds play an important role in the exchange of carbon dioxide and other gases occurring at the ocean surface, but the exact effect on air-sea gas exchange has yet to be conclusively determined. It is difficult to obtain reliable gas exchange measurements within high winds, especially from aboard ships due to the rocking motion caused by the wind and waves. As a result, a recent trend has been to perform more accurate measurements from stable platforms.
Dr. Michel Stoll from NIOZ in the Netherlands offered Dr. McGillis the opportunity to stay as a guest on the F3 oil platform for four weeks to perform air-sea carbon dioxide flux experiments. F3 is an observation post for the Royal Meteorological Institute (KNMI) of the Netherlands.
Henk Zemmelink of the University of Groningen and Dr. McGillis worked together to deploy a complete flux system from the oil platform which included open- and closed-path CO2 measurements. They also tested a wave-height sensor.
In addition to high winds, other processes that control the flux of carbon dioxide between the ocean and air include temperature, salinity, bubble entrainment and bioproductivity. Gas transfer rates also vary with sea state and surface chemical enhancement. These uncertainties and variances prevent mankind from fully understanding basic carbon dioxide uptake processes in the ocean. This also limits our ability to realistically predict future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.