| Project Detail |
Monitoring glacial meltwaters for climate insights
Polar oceans play a crucial role in carbon cycling, yet retreating glaciers threaten the iron flux vital for phytoplankton blooms. Supported by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the WRAPS project tackles this uncertainty by developing an optical technique to monitor dissolved iron in glacial meltwaters. By combining Shifted Excitation Raman Spectroscopy with on-chip waveguide sensing, the project aims to create portable, sensitive devices for real-time monitoring. These sensors promise data collection in polar regions, aiding in climate modelling and environmental management. Beyond polar research, the technology holds potential for applications like monitoring agro-nutrient runoff. WRAPS addresses climate concerns and cultivates expertise in environmental sensing, fostering a network for future innovation.
The polar oceans are hotspots for carbon cycling and burial. The coastal phytoplankton populations bloom provided by the iron, the main nutrient in polar waters, surging from the subglacial water systems. Retreating glaciers cause uncertainty to the future of the iron flux flowing into the oceans and, therefore, it is unclear how the warming climate impacts the carbon cycle in polar areas. However, methods for on-site in-situ monitoring that could gain sufficient temporally and spatially resolved information on the iron behaviour in glacial hydrological systems are either unsatisfactory or cumbersome.
The ambitious aim is to develop an optical measurement technique to monitor and quantify dissolved iron in glacial meltwaters. The objectives are to (i) introduce Shifted Excitation Raman Spectroscopy into on-chip waveguide Raman sensing to develop a portable but sensitive measurement device, and (ii) create an identification and calibration model that can quantify dissolved iron in glacial waters. The expected result is to establish an optical method that enable fast reagent free online monitoring of dissolved iron in glacial meltwaters that can be, in future work, made into a compact on-chip format.
Realization of the in-situ capable Raman sensors will enable collection of extensive data sets of meltwaters in the thawing polar regions. The data will help to quantify their impact on the polar carbon cycle and constrain climate models. The developed Raman sensor can be further applied on various environmental sensing needs, such a monitoring of agronutrient runoff to water systems. From my personal perspective, the obtained research experience and skills will help me to establish a career path on the field of environmental sensing that I am passionate about. The fellowship will give an opportunity to expand my environmental research network to span over the Nordic region and drive border-crossing experimental research of the carbon cycle and the climate change. |
