AQUARIUS Funding Call – Marine and Freshwater Infrastructure Access: Open 02 September 2025 – 28 October 2025
BASEVOC
Baltic Air-Sea Exchange and Shipping Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds
Funded by AQUARIUS Transnational Access Call 1
The BASEVOC project aims to enhance understanding of the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the marine atmosphere. It involves continuous eddy covariance measurements chemical, PTR-TOF-MS chemical, and high-frequency automated phytoplankton.
Research Infrastructure Used: Utö Marine and Atmospheric Research Station
“Through the BASEVOC project, we aim to bridge critical knowledge gaps in marine VOC dynamics and shipping emissions, advancing our understanding of their role in climate processes and environmental impacts, while promoting the transition to sustainable practices in the maritime industry.”
University of Copenhagen
PARTNERS
MAIN OBJECTIVES
The BASEVOC project aims to enhance understanding of the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the marine atmosphere. It involves continuous eddy covariance measurements, PTR-TOF-MS, and high-frequency automated phytoplankton imaging at the Utö Marine and Atmospheric Research Station to study marine VOC dynamics, emissions from ship plumes, and their environmental impacts. The key objectives are:
- Determine the diversity, abundance, and variability of VOCs in the marine boundary layer and identify the dominant compounds.
- Investigate how VOC emissions and uptake respond to changes in environmental conditions and marine ecosystem dynamics, including phytoplankton blooms.
- Characterize the VOC composition of ship plumes and integrate this data into emission models to assess environmental impacts.
The project will generate datasets on VOC mixing ratios and fluxes in the marine boundary layer and identify VOC signatures associated with phytoplankton blooms. Additionally, it will provide VOC emission profiles for various ship fuel types and enhance understanding of the relationships between VOCs and traditional ship emission tracers.
MORE INFORMATION
AQUARIUS TA Project Name:
Baltic Air-Sea Exchange and Shipping Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds
Project acronym:
BASEVOC
TA Project Unique ID:
16
Partners involved:
• University of Copenhagen
• University of Lund
• Chalmers University of Technology
• GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Start date
1st April 2025
End date
28th Sept 2025 (180 Days total)
Mission Lighthouse Region
Baltic & North Sea
Work/research geographical
area
Utö Island, Archipelago Sea, Finland
Names of RI facilities used
Utö Marine and Atmospheric Research Station
Scientific discipline(s)
Earth Sciences & Environment: Marine science/Oceanography
Principal Investigator
(PI) Affiliation
University of Copenhagen