Title of dataset | Microplastic Measurement Journey around the World from the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/2018 Turn the Tide on Plastic and AkzoNobel by GEOMAR Kiel |
Narrative summary of dataset | The provided unique microplastic data was generated from the Leg 0,1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2017/18. The samples were collected onboard "Turn the Tide on Plastic" (all Legs) and team "AkzoNobel" (Leg 7 and 9 till 11).
The extraction of the stainless-steel filter cakes was performed in reference to Lenz et al. 2015 with ultrasonication. The solutions were measured with a microfluidic flow capillary Raman spectrometer in reflection mode and further analysed with holography.
The data variables include GPS position, time, filter volume [L], measured microplastic concentration [particles/m³], error of microplastic concentration [particles/m³], Leg Number and yacht (1 = Turn the Tide on Plastic, 2 = AkzoNobel). Related in-situ oceanographic measurements are uploaded to the NOAA NCEI S2N database (NCEI Accession 0170967). The instrument used for underway measurements was the specially built OceanPack RACE manufactured by SubCtech GmbH in Kiel. The connected microplastic filtration unit and lab analysis prototype for microplastic (Raman) was built by bbe Moldaenke.
The mixed-layer surface water (~1.5 m depending on the heel of the yachts) was sampled in the Mediterranean Sea, the North and South Atlantic Ocean, South Indian Ocean, West and South Pacific Ocean and others from 2017-10-22 to 2018-07-07. Measurements were performed by GEOMAR and acknowledgements go to the Cluster of Excellence Future Ocean (Funding for the Project and Position of Dr.-Ing. Sören B. Gutekunst), Volvo Cars, teams Turn the Tide on Plastic/AkzoNobel, the Volvo Ocean Race sustainability programme, bbe Moldaenke GmbH and SubCtech GmbH.
Leg overview and yacht samples:
Leg 0: Lisbon to Alicante/Spain TTOP
Leg 1: Alicante to Lisbon/Portugal TTOP
Leg 2: Lisbon to Cape Town/South Africa TTOP
Leg 3: Cape Town to Melbourne/Australia TTOP
Leg 4: Melbourne to Hong Kong/China TTOP
Leg 5: not sampled -
Leg 6: Hong Kong to Auckland/New Zealand TTOP
Leg 7: Auckland to Itajaí/Brazil TTOP & AN
Leg 8: Itajaí to Newport/U.S.A. TTOP
Leg 9: Newport to Cardiff/U.K. TTOP & AN
Leg 10: Cardiff to Gothenburg/Sweden TTOP & AN
Leg 11 Gothenburg to The Hague/Netherlands TTOP & AN
Leg 12: The Hague to Lisbon/Portugal TTOP
In addition to the Marine Litter data also weather observations were collected and these are available from:
https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0170967 |
Summary of processing methodology | The prototype made especially for these race yachts was designed by SubCtech and bbe Moldaenke. It is a new combination of microfluidics, Raman and Holography. The provided samples from the sailing teams (Boats Captain: Liz Wardley Turn the Tide on Plastic and Nicolai Sehested AkzoNobel) were put into aluminium bags and brought back to the Lab in Kiel after each maintenance and cleaning of the systems in every stop-over.
The extraction from these stainless-steel filters was performed close to the published method by Lenz et al. 2015 by ultrasonication. The sample was then characterized non-destructive under flow in a capillary with reflection mode Raman, where the samples flow was provided by a peristaltic pump through the capillary. The green 532 nm Laser was focussed to the full width of the capillary (2 mm) to measure all particles flow through this chamber. These measurements resulted in more than 30000 spectra per sample and measurement times of ~40 min. A fit algorithm of the water signal helped to find events around 630 nm, which are characteristic to microplastic particles. These events were compared to reference measured bought polymer particles for characterization and possibly consist of PE, PP, PS, PET, PC, PVC, PA and EVA.
For error analysis a recovery-rate above 92 % was observed, when measuring a reference sample six times in a row with counted polymer particles. In addition, the filter volume connected statistical error of the sampling itself resulted in the given overall error in microplastic concentration. The provided data excepts the Holography data as the two-chamber system, which was used, has to be further developed, as the finding rate and direct correlation to the previous obtained Raman spectra of the microplastic particle is too uncertain at the moment with a delay of Raman to Holography measurement of ~3 to 6 seconds.
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Supporting documentation | Map of the microplastic measurement Results from AkzoNobel Results from Turn the Tide on Plastic |
Project/programme | Oceanographic Observations from Ocean Race Yachts CP1756 / Cluster of Excellence Future Ocean |
Start date | 2017-10-22 |
End date | 2018-07-07 |