The Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) is a collaborative international approach to document the status and progress of ocean acidification in open-ocean, coastal, and estuarine environments, to understand the drivers and impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, and to provide spatially and temporally resolved biogeochemical data necessary to optimize modeling for ocean acidification.
Approach and Goals
Detailed information about the GOA-ON background, design, implementation, and data strategy can be found here:
GOA-ON high-level goals:
Goal 1 - Improve our understanding of global OA conditions:
Determine status and spatial / temporal patterns in carbon chemistry, assessing the generality of response to ocean acidification.
Document and evaluate variation in carbon chemistry to infer mechanisms (including biological) driving ocean acidification.
Quantify rates of change, trends, and identify areas of heightened vulnerability or resilience.
Goal 2 - Improve our understanding of ecosystem response to OA:
Track biological responses in concert with physical/chemical changes.
Quantify rates of change and identify locations and species of heightened vulnerability or resilience.
Goal 3 - Acquire and exchange data and knowledge necessary to optimize modeling for OA and its impacts:
Provide spatially and temporally resolved biogeochemical data for use in parameterizing and validating models.
A nested approach.
The three high-level goals for each geographic environment will be realized using a nested approach differentiating between: critical minimum measurements (Level 1); enhanced measurements to further the understanding of primary mechanisms (Level 2); and opportunistic or experimental measurements (Level 3).
Building on the existing global oceanic carbon observatory network of repeat hydrographic surveys, time-series stations, floats and glider observations, and volunteer observing ships, the interactive map below offers the best information available on the current inventory of global OA observing platforms. This is a strong foundation of observations of the carbonate chemistry needed to understand chemical changes resulting from ocean acidification.
Planned Mooring
Float/Pier/Time Series Station
Ship-Based Time Series/Hydrographic Cruise
