McGillicuddy, Dennis: WHOI (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2016 - 2020
NRA: 2015 NASA: Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
The physical, biological and geochemical processes that lead to the transfer of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean via the biological pump vary on a tremendously wide range of scales. Net community production (NCP) provides the fuel for the biological pump, and recent observations indicate substantial variability of NCP on spatial scales of less than 30 km (the submesoscale) and time scales of days. Large scale field experiments are currently being planned for the North Atlantic and North Pacific as part of the EXPORTS project, yet our understanding of how to grapple with these scales of variability in NCP and export production remains incomplete. We propose to use a coupled physical-biogeochemical model together with existing high-resolution measurements oxygen and NCP to investigate the role of mesoscale and submesoscale processes in upper ocean ecosystem dynamics and carbon flux. This combination of observations and models will be used to assess sampling strategies for the EXPORTS field campaign, providing an objective basis on which to assess the spatial and temporal scales on which various observing assets should be deployed.
Our specific objectives are to:
1. Test the oxygen dynamics recently incorporated into an existing biogeochemical model
(LOBSTER; Lévy et al. 2012; Resplandy et al. 2012).
2. Carry out high-resolution (1/54º) coupled physical-biological simulations in an
idealized North Atlantic domain.
3. Compare simulated and observed hotspots in net community production.
4. Revise the biogeochemical model as systematic discrepancies warrant.
5. Simulate sampling of environmental conditions in hotspots of net community production from the model solutions with a suite of remote sensing instruments (altimetry, ocean color, SST) using the space/time parameters specific to each platform.
6. Evaluate the accuracy with which hotspots in net community production can be
reconstructed using these satellite data sets.
7. Carry out Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) to provide guidance for in situ process studies such as EXPORTS.
The proposed research thus incorporates multiple satellite missions together with in situ data and numerical models to improve our understanding of physical-biological interactions at the mesoscale and submesoscale. Our specific emphasis on processes regulating new production and export flux and associated sampling issues are directly relevant to theme 2.2 of solicitation NNH15ZDA001N-OBB, Global Data Sets and Modeling In Support of Planned Northeast Pacific and North Atlantic Export Flux Studies.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
