Perspectives from Developers and Users of the GOA-ON in a Box Kit: A Model for Capacity Sharing in Ocean Sciences Oceanography

Providing reliable instrumentation that enables collection of high-quality, comparable data is one of the most challenging aspects of establishing ocean acidification monitoring programs. This is especially true for under-resourced countries, where such data are mostly unavailable. In 2016, The Ocean Foundation (TOF) worked with international bodies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre and the Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON), and subject matter experts to develop a set of equipment known as the “GOA-ON in a Box” kit (The Ocean Foundation, 2017). This comprehensive kit provides researchers with everything needed—down to specialized rubber bands—to obtain weather-quality carbonate system measurements as defined by GOA-ON (Newton et al., 2015). Data are generated from spectrophotometric measurements of pHT and manual titrations for total alkalinity from discrete samples as well as in situ sensors, the iSAMI-pH and a CTD. The kit’s modular design, composed of nearly 100 unique items, makes it much less expensive than comparable integrated systems and allows for easier troubleshooting and replacement of supplied spare components. Grant no. NA20OAR0170518