Description du projet
Étudier l’océan Austral pour prévoir les changements climatiques
De tous les océans du monde, l’océan Austral est la masse d’eau qui absorbe le plus de CO2. Les eaux modales subantarctiques (SAMW) et les eaux intermédiaires de l’Antarctique (AAIW) contribuent à l’absorption et à la séquestration de gaz anthropiques comme le CO2. Le projet SO-CUP, financé par l’UE, vise à identifier et quantifier les processus qui contrôlent la quantité de carbone inorganique entraîné par subduction au niveau des SAMW/AAIW. Il intégrera l’utilisation d’observations in situ récentes provenant des flotteurs biogéochimiques Argo et un assimilateur de données de pointe (B-SOSE) dans un modèle océanique couplé physique-biogéochimie à haute résolution. En mettant en lumière les processus de ventilation et d’absorption du carbone dans l’océan Austral, le projet aidera à prévoir leur réponse aux changements climatiques d’aujourd’hui et de demain.
Objectif
The Southern Ocean (SO) is a disproportionately important region, relative to its size, for mitigating the consequences of the anthropogenic climate change, being responsible for 43% and 75% of the ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 and heat, respectively. The Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) and Antarctic Intermediate Waters (AAIW) effect the bulk of this uptake. Yet the dynamical processes that control the formation of these water masses in the thick winter mixed layers to the north of the SubAntarctic Front (SAF), and the associated drawdown of carbon, are not well understood, primarily as a result of the scarcity of data during winter in this remote region. Hence, the present and future evolution of the SO carbon sink remains the subject of vigorous debate. The main goal of the SO-CUP project is to identify and quantify the processes that control the amount of inorganic carbon that is subducted with the SAMW/AAIW. To do so, the work plan integrates the use of recent in situ observations from biogeochemical Argo floats and a state-of-the-art data-assimilating, high-resolution coupled biogeochemical-physical ocean model (B-SOSE). Through analysis of these novel datasets, which allow for unprecedented data coverage of the SO in winter, the SO-CUP project will produce a major step forward toward understanding the ventilation and carbon uptake processes in the SO, and will help to predict their response to ongoing and future climatic changes. This proposal will also enable Dr. Fernández-Castro to decisively broaden his expertise on ocean physics and biogeochemistry, and to gain experience in the state-of-the-art technologies in these disciplines. These new skills and knowledge will propel Dr. Fernández-Castro’s career toward a status of independent scientist with high international visibility. Further, the SO-CUP project will establish new links between the EU and US communities for the investigation of the fundamental role of the SO in the climate system.
Champ scientifique
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Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
SO17 1BJ Southampton
Royaume-Uni