Project: Development of a spectrophotometric pH-measurement system for monitoring in the Baltic Sea

The pH of seawater is a key variable of the marine acid/base system. High precision measurements of pH in combination with other parameters are invaluable to fully describe the marine CO2 system, to study biogeochemical processes, and to trace “ocean acidification”. Despite the recognised importance of pH, a standard procedure for long-term and comparable pH-measurements with high accuracy and precision has not been established, hampered by the use of different pH-standards and problems with probe calibration. Assessing pH in brackish water systems like the Baltic faces particular methodological challenges due to e.g. the large salinity and pH range encountered, or the occurrence of hydrogen sulfide. Within PINBAL, a consortium of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research, the German SME CONTROS Systems & Solutions GmbH, the University of Gothenburg and the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish academy of Sciences will cooperatively fulfill the still required fundamental chemical work, system and software design and field testing to realize a prototype of a spectrophotometric pH-measurement system for continuous underway measurements as well as for discrete samples. At the end of the project, it is envisaged to have prototypes running at the involved partners, which are involved in the HELCOM monitoring programme, and a technology developed at CONTROS which allows a product for the market in the near future matching the monitoring programme requirements for the Baltic.

Acronym	PINBAL (Reference Number: call2012inno-44)
Duration	01/04/2014 - 31/03/2017
Project Topic	Innovative measurement techniques
Website	visit project website
Network	BONUS
Call	Bonus Call 2012: Innovation

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde	Coordinator	Germany
2	CONTROS Systems & Solutions GmbH	Partner	Germany
3	University of Gothenburg	Partner	Sweden
4	Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences	Partner	Poland