News Release

Study begins on air-sea exchanges and their influence on climate

Grant and Award Announcement

National Oceanography Centre, UK

A two-year project, which will provide vital information on the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere and its influence on climate, begins this month.

Scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), University of Leeds, and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are collaborating on the 'Waves, Aerosols and Gas Exchange Study' (WAGES), which begins this month with the installation of an autonomous air-sea flux system, 'AutoFlux', on the Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross, operated by BAS. The Autoflux makes continuous direct measurements of the air-sea exchange of carbon dioxide, sea-spray aerosol, heat, moisture, and momentum.

WAGES is a joint scientific project between the NOC, led by Dr Margaret Yelland and Professor Meric Srokosz, and the University of Leeds, led by Dr Ian Brooks. BAS is providing technical and logistical support.

"Sea spray aerosol is important for cloud formation, and the exchange of carbon dioxide and other gases between the sea and the atmosphere has an important impact on climate," explained Margaret Yelland.

"These exchanges are not well understood, but are thought to depend on the type of waves that are present on the sea surface. For example, it may be that short steep waves produce more wave breaking and hence more gas transfer and aerosols than less steep waves. Similarly, wave breaking may be influenced by the sea surface temperature or the air-sea temperature difference," added Ian Brooks.

Summer 2010 will see a commercial wave radar system added to obtain information on wave direction, along with digital cameras to image whitecap coverage. All systems will remain on the RRS James Clark Ross until at least the autumn of 2012.

In addition to the continuous flux and wave measurements, there will be a number of cruises during which WAGES personnel will deploy a spar buoy to obtain data on wave breaking. An aerial camera system will be flown by kite to obtain simultaneous wide-area whitecap coverage.

WAGES aims to continue and expand the work begun under three UK-SOLAS (Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Study) projects of limited duration or scope. Previous projects SEASAW and DOGEE only made measurements during relatively short research cruises, while HiWASE made three years of measurements from the weather ship Polarfront stationed at a single location in the North Atlantic.

"The exciting thing about WAGES is that it will obtain two years of data over the entire length of the Atlantic under a vast range of different conditions," said Margaret Yelland:

"Measurements will be taken in sea-ice covered areas of the Antarctic and Arctic, the extreme seas of the Southern Ocean, the high temperatures of the equatorial Atlantic, and during the fierce storms of the North Atlantic."

###

WAGES is funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council.

Useful links:

HiWASE web site: http://www.noc.soton.ac.uk/ooc/CRUISES/HiWASE/index.php
SEASAW web site: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/~lecimb/SOLAS/index.html
DOGEE web site: http://pml-solas.org.uk/index.htm

Acronyms:

HiWASE - High Wind Air-Sea Exchanges
SEASAW - Sea Spray, Gas Fluxes and Whitecaps
DOGEE - Deep Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a new, national research organisation that went live from 1 April this year. The NOC will work in partnership with the UK marine research community to deliver integrated marine science and technology from the coast to the deep ocean.

The NOC brings together into a single institution NERC-managed activity at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool. The NOC will work in close partnership with the wider marine science community to create the integrated research capability needed to tackle the big environmental issues facing the world. Research priorities will include the oceans' role in climate change, sea-level change and the future of the Arctic Ocean.

The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise showed the University of Leeds to be the UK's eighth biggest research powerhouse. The University is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. The University's vision is to secure a place among the world's top 50 by 2015. http://www.leeds.ac.uk.

The RRS James Clark Ross

RRS James Clark Ross (named after Admiral Sir James Clark Ross, R.N. ) was built by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders, Wallsend, UK and launched by H.M. The Queen on 1 December 1990.

The vessel can steam at a steady two knots through level sea ice one metre thick. To assist passage through heavy pack ice a compressed air system rolls the ship from side to side freeing the passage. RRS James Clark Ross is equipped for geophysical studies, with a compressor bank to power a seismic air gun array, and large aft and starboard decks for scientific equipment deployed by aft and midships gantries. For biological studies, the vessel can deploy a wide range of sampling gear and benefits from modern underway instrumentation. The ship is designed with an extremely low noise signature to allow sensitive underwater acoustic equipment to operate effectively. (Text courtesy of BAS)


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.