This cooperative agreement is awarded to the university of texas at austin for a project entitled ''acoustic methods for mcdr based on blue carbon burial in seagrass meadow". This award is being…

This cooperative agreement is awarded to the university of texas at austin for a project entitled ''acoustic methods for mcdr based on blue carbon burial in seagrass meadow". This award is being made in accordance with DE-FOA-0002989, sensing exports of anthropogenic carbon through ocean observation (sea-CO2) and application control number 2989-1514. Seagrass meadows have been identified as important sinks in the global carbon cycle, because they are highly productive systems that bury organic carbon. Furthermore, carbon sequestration in seagrass meadows, a form of marine (also known as blue) carbon dioxide removal (mcdr), has been proposed as a low-risk, nature-based solution to offset carbon emissions and reduce the effects of climate change. The net burial of carbon is related to net ecosystem productivity (NEP) as well as carbon that is imported and exported by various physical, chemical, and biological processes. Conventional methods to determine NEP require manual sampling and laboratory analysis, both of which are time intensive and expensive. The proposed concept utilizes passive acoustic measurements to non-invasively monitor NEP over timescales exceeding one year with high temporal resolution. The method detects the acoustic signature of bubbles that are released from seagrass leaves when the surrounding water is supersaturated with oxygen. The sound of gas ebullition is a dominant feature of the soundscape, and IT can be detected and classified using machine-learning-based signal processing techniques and related back to NEP and ultimately back to the net burial of carbon. IT is envisioned that this system can be used to monitor the performance of large-scale seagrass meadow remediation projects undertaken for the purpose of mcdr.