The Collaborative on Oceanography and Chemical Analysis (COCA) and suggestions for future instrumental analysis methods in chemical oceanography COCA Working Group*1 *Corresponding author Chris Measures, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA. Tel +1 808-956-8693 Email:
[email protected] 1 The members of the COCA Working group are listed in Appendix I Submitted to a special issue of Marine Chemistry June, 2014. Abstract The ability to make measurements accurately and precisely is the sine qua non of chemical oceanography. The development of theory and its transformation into modeling is completely dependant on the understanding gained through accurate measurements of oceanic properties. Chemical oceanographers, by making measurements of various chemical elements in ocean water, seek to discover, understand, and quantify ocean processes and use them in conjunction with other branches of oceanography to understand how the oceans interact with Earth system processes. We use this information to understand how the planetary biogeochemical systems affect and interact with the climate and use the chemical record in the sediments to understand how these systems operated in the past. With this knowledge we can build accurate models to predict responses to future climate forcing events. The primary inputs to chemical oceanography are dominantly provided by applied analytical chemistry. The construction of large networked observing systems and the development of a variety of autonomous vehicles have provided an unprecedented opportunity to study the ocean at spatial and temporal scales that have not been previously available to the ocean research community. However, as a result of power availability, mass and size constraints, and the limited ability to service instruments on these platforms, there are only a few parameters of interest to chemical oceanographers that can take advantage of this expensive infrastructure.