Award: OCE-1844886

When conducting analyses of natural waters such as in the ocean, there can be uncertainty in the result because the concentrations being assessed can be very low and therefore difficult to determine with reliability. Some measurements being made have great importance for understanding the role of the ocean in the Earth climate system, so reliability becomes particularly important. The carbon content of ocean waters has high relevance to climate, so this project sought to improve the measurements of carbon in the ocean across the many international laboratories conducting such analyses. We collected water from the deep ocean, characterized its carbon content, and then sent small volumes of these reference waters to the various laboratories interested in confirming their measurements. We distributed tens of thousands of vials of water to dozens of nations during the project. The receiving laboratories were then able to either confirm their results or work to improve their analyses. The users of the reference waters are charged a fee for their orders so that laboratory supply costs for generating the products are recovered. The users also cover the shipping costs. The funds returned for the reference waters were used to cover the analytical and material costs, including supplies for the analytical instruments, vials, labels, shipping materials, storage materials, wire charges and refrigeration. In the end, the many international laboratories have improved their analytical agreement, which makes their results valuable to the international ocean science community and to society at large. Last Modified: 05/02/2023 Submitted by: Dennis A Hansell