Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Although the oceans play a major role in the uptake of fossil fuel CO2 from the atmosphere, there is much debate about the contribution from continental shelves, since many key shelf fluxes are not yet well quantified: the exchange of carbon across the landocean and shelf-slope interfaces, air-sea exchange of CO2, burial, and biological processes including productivity. Our goal is to quantify these carbon fluxes along the eastern U.S. coast using models quantitatively verified by comparison to observations, and to establish a framework for predicting how these fluxes may be modified as a result of climate and land use change. Our research questions build on those addressed with previous NASA funding for the USECoS (U.S. Eastern Continental Shelf Carbon Cycling) project. We have developed a coupled biogeochemical ocean circulation model configured for this study region and have extensively evaluated this model with both in situ and remotely-sensed data. Results indicate that to further reduce uncertainties in the shelf component of the global carbon cycle, future efforts must be directed towards 1) increasing the resolution of the physical model via nesting and 2) making refinements to the biogeochemical model and quantitatively evaluating these via the assimilation of biogeochemical data (in situ and remotely-sensed). These model improvements are essential for better understanding and reducing estimates of uncertainties in current and future carbon transformations and cycling in continental shelf systems. Our approach and science questions are particularly germane to the carbon cycle science goals of the NASA Earth Science Research Program as well as the U.S. Climate Change Research Program and the North American Carbon Program. Our interdisciplinary research team consists of scientists who have expertise in the physics and biogeochemistry of the U.S. eastern continental shelf, remote-sensing data analysis and data assimilative numerical models.

2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• Impacts of land cover and land use change on the nitrogen dynamics of the Chesapeake Bay over the past 100 years   --   (Cathy Feng, Marjorie Friedrichs, Hanqin Tian, Qichun Yang, Raymond Najjar)   [abstract]
• Satellite-Derived Properties of Dissolved Organic Matter within Estuarine and Continental Shelf Waters Along the Northeastern U.S. Coast   --   (Antonio Mannino, Michael Novak, Peter Hernes, Kimberly Hyde, Sergio Signorini)   [abstract]

2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• The U.S. Eastern Continental Shelf Carbon Cycling Project (U.S. ECoS)   --   (Marjorie Friedrichs, Eileen Hofmann, Bronwyn Cahill, Katja Fennel, Kimberly Hyde, Antonio Mannino, Raymond Najjar, Sergio Signorini, Hanqin Tian, John Wilkin, Yongjin Xiao, Jianhong Xue)   [abstract]
• Seasonal variability of surface ocean pCO2 and air-Sea CO2 flux in the continental shelf of the US east coast   --   (Sergio Signorini, Antonio Mannino, Marjorie Friedrichs, Bronwyn Cahill)   [abstract]

2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters

• Remote Sensing Analyses in Support of the Eastern US Continental Shelf Carbon Budget Study   --   (Charles McClain, Sergio Signorini, Antonio Mannino, Jay O'reilly)   [abstract]
• Development of Carbon Data Products for the Coastal Ocean using SeaWiFS and MODIS-Aqua   --   (Antonio Mannino, Mary Elizabeth Russ, Stanford B. Hooker)   [abstract]   [poster]
• Remineralization in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of Maine inferred from climatologies of dissolved oxygen and primary production   --   (Raymond Gabriel Najjar, John Siewert, John O'reilly)   [abstract]   [poster]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Ocean Biology & Biogeochemistry (OBB) Project Profile