Technology
Technology
Innovations and improvements in sensor technology are essential to help reduce the uncertainty of the Southern Ocean carbon sink and better understand its role in the global carbon cycle. The use of autonomous platforms and sail boats to increase the capacity of observation requires light and small instrumentation that can effectively measure components of the carbon system.
TRICUSO is optimising and improving sensor technology, building on the innovations achieved in the project GEORGE, and co-developing new instrumentation with our industry partners (SubCtech and NKE Instrumentation) for implementation on sail boats, Argo Floats and other autonomous platforms. Long-term performance trials will be conducted to evaluate the Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of the sensors, ensuring they are delivering high quality data and are fit for release to be used on a global scale.
Read more about the instruments and sensors
CaPASOS: Calibrated pCO2 in Air and Surface Ocean Sensor
A small instrument developed in the Horizon Europe project GEORGE. CaPASOS is one of only two miniature systems worldwide that uses WMO quality reference gases to directly measure pCO2 levels and can be integrated onto a small vessel. TRICUSO will optimise it and integrate the updated CaPASOS system into a Wave Glider for trial in the Southern Ocean.
SubCtech pCO2 system
A compact membrane instrument that requires minimal power and has been tested on racing yachts participating in competitions. Together with our industry partner SubCtech, TRICUSO will work toward improving the quality of data the system returns. We will also conduct long-term laboratory experiments to study the membrane system’s response to sudden changes in environmental conditions under a variety of operating environments. During these tests all parts of the sensor will be critically examined, and the impact of each component’s uncertainty on the final pCO2 value will be evaluated. The SubCtech pCO2 system will be deployed on a racing yacht during IMOCA’s Ocean Race in 2027.
LOC Carbonate sensors Float C – sensors
TRICUSO will optimise, miniaturise and install on floats the state-of-the-art Lab-on-Chip (LOC) sensor technology, developed in the project Horizon Europe GEORGE. These sensors measure multiple components of the carbon system and allow an overdetermination of the carbonate system and therefore precise calculations of surface ocean pCO2. The upgraded sensors will be tested and evaluated on floats in the lab and at sea.
Float Wind Sensors
TRICUSO will implement an acoustic wind sensor, developed as part of GEORGE by project partner NKE Instrumentation, on multiple Argo floats to provide a more direct CO2 flux calculation.
Sea-Bird pH Sensor
Sea-Bird has recently released a new electrochemical pH sensor which has not yet entered the European Argo Fleet. TRICUSO will install the system on an Argo float and evaluate its performance over 30 days in the Southern Ocean off the coast of South Georgia to assess its potential for mass deployment on Biogeochemical (BGC) Argo floats across the globe.
“We'll be developing new sensing tools and will evaluate and prove their long-term performance, so the data they provide can be trusted and used as widely as possible.”
Allison Schaap, WP2
Website by Seascape Belgium © 2025.
All rights reserved.
Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy
This work was funded by the European Union under grant agreement no. 101188028. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
