MBARI Chemical Sensor Program
Project Manager and Lead Scientist: Ken Johnson
Ken Johnson’s lab is developing two novel chemical sensors that can be deployed throughout the ocean to monitor biogeochemical processes. The Ion Selective Field Effect Transistors (ISFET) sensor appears well-suited for measuring seawater pH over long time periods. Johnson is working with a major ISFET manufacturer to adapt chips for deep-sea applications. Dissolved ammonium ion is a key phytoplankton nutrient in oligotrophic and eutrophic environments, but is hard to measure. In 2009 Johnson’s lab will continue to develop a robust fluidic platform to perform these ammonium analyses, as well as other in situ chemical analyses such as those for phosphate and dissolved inorganic carbon, on oceanographic moorings.