"GOA-ON In A Box": A Suite of Cost-Effective Equipment Designed to Remove Barriers to Ocean Acidification Monitoring in Resource-Limited Environments

Despite consistent growth in ocean acidification research and monitoring, data is primarily generated in the Global North. Thus, significant portions of the ocean—including islands and coastal areas most vulnerable to socioeconomic impacts of ocean acidification—remain largely unstudied. To address this gap, The Ocean Foundation’s International Ocean Acidification Initiative improves the capacity of scientists, policy makers, and industry leaders to monitor, understand, and respond to ocean acidification with a focus on accessibility and cost-effectiveness. A primary barrier to conducting monitoring has been the cost of monitoring systems, but under the guidance of GOA-ON, IOC-UNESCO, and the IAEA, The Ocean Foundation and its project partners designed a suite of low-cost equipment called “GOA-ON In A Box” that is 1/10^th the cost of previous monitoring systems. The kit is capable of monitoring pH and alkalinity at weather quality and is customized for labs with limited-to-no equipment. The kit contains deployed equipment for continuous in-situ monitoring, materials for discrete sampling, lab ware for pH analysis, and a manual titration system to measure alkalinity. Under this initiative, capacity building programs have occurred throughout the Western Indian Ocean, the Pacific Islands, and Latin America/the Caribbean in order to equip local scientists with the technical training and tools to collect weather quality ocean chemistry data. To date, 17 kits have been deployed in 16 countries. Over time, project partners have identified common challenges to conducting ocean chemistry monitoring in data-poor and/or resource-poor contexts. In order to address these barriers, The Ocean Foundation has developed a holistic approach to technology-transfer, simple Standard Operating Procedures, and collaborative problem-solving to ensure successful long-term monitoring. This approach to building oceanographic capacity could serve as a model for additional parameters and monitoring needs.