Marra, John: Lamont-Doheerty Earth Observatory (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2007 - 2010
NRA: 2006 NASA: Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
We have formed a consortium of investigators to participate in the GasEx III cruise to the
Southern Ocean in 2008, to make a suite of observations of absorption properties in the
near-surface layer. We will design an underway system that pumps water to the ship's
laboratory, with automatic recording of position and optical property data in computer
files, and that allows water samples to be extracted from the fluid stream for laboratory
analysis. We will also conduct experiments to measure the photosynthetic rate (CO2
drawdown) in near-surface water samples. The hypothesis we will test is that
photosynthetic carbon assimilation in the surface ocean can be predicted from
phytoplankton absorption with relatively small error. Since phytoplankton absorption is a
difficult measurement methodologically, we will employ a variety of techniques for
intercomparison, in order to optimize the measurement. Each of the PI's in the consortium
will be responsible for a particular method or optical component. The members of the
consortium (and their contribution) are as follows: B. Hargreaves (reflectancetransmission
absorption), Z. Lee (underway absorption and beam transmission), J. Marra
(filterpad technique), A. Subramaniam (colored dissolved organic matter absorption), and
R. Vaillancourt (Photosystem II absorption cross-section). In addition, we will take
samples for HPLC pigment analysis through the NASA contract for these analyses. The
members of the consortium come from three different institutions, Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory (Marra, Subramaniam, Vaillancourt), the Naval Research Laboratory (Lee)
and Lehigh University (Hargreaves). Each institution is submitting a proposal, and each
proposal will be able to stand on its own. However we stress the importance of funding
all three so that the comprehensive suite of measurements can be made.
2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters
- Phytoplankton spectral absorption in the Southern Ocean: preliminary results from SO-GASEX
-- (Bruce Robert Hargreaves)
[abstract]
[poster]
- A New Algorithm for Calculating Productivity from Ocean Color Derived Chlorophyll-a
-- (John Marra, John O'reilly, Kimberly Hyde)
[abstract]
- Carbon Dioxide Drawdown During Southern Ocean GasEx: A Preliminary Assessment of the Role of Phytoplankton
-- (Robert David Vaillancourt, John F Marra, Veronica Lance, Bruce Robert Hargreaves)
[abstract]
[poster]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
