An online database for advancing interdisciplinary ocean modelling
Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) are intimately connected to climate change and their recent dramatic increase is challenging the scientific community, policy makers and the public. The effectiveness of measures taken to reduce carbon emissions will ultimately be judged by their long-term effect on atmospheric CO2 levels which in turn requires an understanding of long-term storage changes in carbon reservoirs. Observational and modelling estimates suggest that the ocean, the largest mobile reservoir of carbon, is presently taking about 1/3 of fossil fuel CO2 emissions. However, predicting the future behaviour of the oceanic carbon sink is problematic, depending upon possible changes in ocean circulation and marina biogeochemistry. Within the ANIMATE project a moored infrastructure to provide regular observations of carbon cycle variability and processes from selected sites in the Northeast Atlantic was implemented and is still maintained. The specific sites are ESTOC near Canary Islands, PAP (Porcupine Abyssal Plain) west of Ireland and CIS (Central Irminger Sea) which are representative of distinct biogeochemical regions. These were chosen to build upon existing European observational efforts and to finally network with non-European elements of the North Atlantic observing system. Since 2002, time-series physical data, such as temperature, salinity and currents have been collected, as well as biogeochemical data, which included nutrients, CO2 concentrations and fluorescence as a proxy for phytoplankton concentration. To allow the near real-time access to the data, the moorings were equipped with telemetry buoys transmitting the data to shore via satellite. In addition, real-time data processing and display capability has been developed and is available via the project's web site. Time-series interdisciplinary observations of ocean processes will be crucial for the improvement of models needed to understand the ocean component of the global carbon cycle. Furthermore, time-series observatories embedded within a global integrated ocean observing system and their observations will help achieve a dynamically consistent description of the ocean's state that could be used to initialise climate prediction models.
