National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
United States Department of Commerce

NOAA scientists provide expertise for $2 Million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE

PMEL scientists on the R/V Kilo Moana.  Photo credit:  NOAA/PMEL

May 14, 2015

PMEL scientists Richard Feely and Chris Sabine, and JISAO scientists Adrienne Sutton and Remy Okazaki, have just embarked on the R/V Kilo Moana for the final phase of the $2 million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE.  As members of PMEL’s Ocean Carbon group, the team is providing the actual pH measurements for comparison to the measurements taken by new sensors developed by XPRIZE contestants.  The competition has been reduced to 5 teams, each vying for the Accuracy Purse.  The contestants will put their sensors through rigorous performance tests focused on stability and precision at up to 3,000 meters (almost 2 miles) deep. 

More information can be found at NOAA Research, PMEL Ocean Carbon, Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE, and the University of Washington/Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean websites.  Follow the XPRIZE cruise blog.

PMEL Project: