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The influence of mesoscale variability on organic carbon export fluxes: bridging models and observations
Applicant
Lovecchio Elisa
Number
184251
Funding scheme
Early Postdoc.Mobility
Research institution
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science University of Southampton
Institution of higher education
Institution abroad - IACH
Main discipline
Oceanography
Start/End
01.01.2020 - 31.08.2021
Show all
Keywords (7)
biological pump; ocean modeling; organic carbon export; small-scale fluxes; in-situ data; mesoscale structures; ocean biogeochemistry
Lay Summary (Italian)
Lead
"L'influenza dei fenomeni di mesoscala sulla variabilità dell'esportazione del carbonio organico: uno studio che combina modelli e osservazioni"Elisa Lovecchio
Lay summary
IN SINTESI
Il
flusso di esportazione verticale della materia organica marina dalla superficie del mare agli strati profondi
determina la capacità dell'oceano di controllare la concentrazione atmosferica di CO2, regolando l'effetto serra a livello globale. Tale materia organica e' infatti prodotta in superficie attraverso la fotosintesi e quindi l'utilizzo di anidride carbonica. Nonostante questo suo ruolo fondamentale, il flusso verticale di materia organica marina non è ancora ben quantificato, e le stime attuali sono inferiori a quelle necessarie a spiegare il corrispondente consumo osservato nelle profondità dell'oceano.
SOGGETTO E OBIETTIVO
Una delle componenti del flusso verticale di materia organica marina più difficile da misurare è quella associata ai
fenomeni di mesoscala
, ossia a quelle strutture tipiche della circolazione oceanica di dimensione laterale dell'ordine dei 20 - 200 km,
come ad esempio vortici e fronti
. In corrispondenza di tali strutture sono stati osservati flussi verticali di esportazione maggiori o minori della media. Purtroppo la natura effimera di queste strutture e la loro dimensione limitata le rende difficili da studiare sia con osservazioni in-situ che con l'uso di modelli numerici. Lo scopo di questo progetto di ricerca è di focalizzarsi sul contributo delle strutture di mesoscala al flusso di esportazione, al fine di capire quali fattori fisici e biologici modulano il trasferimento verticale della materia organica in loro corrispondenza. A tal fine
verranno combinati l'uso di osservazioni in loco di lunga durata
(sia da gliders che da cruise)
e modelli numerici ad alta risoluzione
tali da risolvere queste strutture.
CONTESTO SOCIO-SCIENTIFICO
Questo progetto permetterà non solo di
migliorare le stime
del flusso di esportazione ma anche di
comprendere i processi
che lo governano e quindi migliorare le sue
previsioni future
in relazione ai cambiamenti climatici.
Direct link to Lay Summary
Last update: 27.09.2019
Responsible applicant and co-applicants
Name
Institute
Lovecchio Elisa
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science University of Southampton
Collaboration
Group / person
Country
Types of collaboration
Alice Della Penna, University of Auckland
New Zealand (Oceania)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Sari Giering, NOCS
Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Evan Mason, IMEDEA
Spain (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Soeren Thomsen, LOCEAN, CNRS-IRD-Sorbonne Universités
France (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Adrian Martin, NOCS
Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Giulia Bonino, CMCC Bologna
Italy (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Ivy Frenger, GEOMAR
Germany (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Scientific events
Active participation
Title
Type of contribution
Title of article or contribution
Date
Place
Persons involved
25th AIOL congress
Talk given at a conference
Biophysical interactions at the ocean’s mesoscale: eddy and filament impacts on the marine organic carbon and oxygen cycles
30.06.2021
online conference, Italy
Lovecchio Elisa
;
Ocean Carbon & Biogeochemistry workshop2021
Poster
Mesoscale oxygen patterns from glider data in the northern Benguela Upwelling System
20.06.2021
online workshop, United States of America
Lovecchio Elisa
;
EGU General Assembly
Talk given at a conference
Combining gliders and models to understand mesoscale biogeochemical patterns at the Angola-Benguela front”
19.04.2021
online conference, Austria
Lovecchio Elisa
;
I Early Career Symposium on Marine Biogeochemical Modelling
Talk given at a conference
Keynote talk: "3D cycling of organic matter in upwelling regions: driven by smallscales, impacting on large scales"
13.01.2021
Online conference, Brazil
Lovecchio Elisa
;
Awards
Title
Year
Best oral presentation "Giuseppe Morabito award" at 25th AIOL congress http://www.aiol.info/premi-giovani-ricercatori-xxv/
2021
Associated projects
Number
Title
Start
Funding scheme
149384
CALNEX: Quantifying the exchange of carbon and nutrients between the coastal and open seas: A comparative modeling study of the California and Canary Current Systems
01.02.2014
Project funding
Abstract
The vertical export of organic carbon from the surface ocean to the ocean's interior exerts a fundamental control on atmospheric carbon concentrations. Nevertheless, its magnitude is still ill constrained, and current estimates do not match the high rates of organic carbon utilization at depth. One of the unaccounted contributions to the flux is associated with the ocean's mesoscale flow (with typical width of 20-200 km), which substantially modulates the export, but is under-sampled by observational methods and unresolved by models. My project aims at quantifying the organic carbon export associated with mesoscale structures such as eddies and fronts, and at identifying its drivers. I will use already available recent high-resolution in-situ glider and ship-based data collected in a specific region of the ocean. These will be combined with a new high-resolution coupled physical-biogeochemical model setup for the same region, which will be developed in order to interpret, generalize and up-scale the results. Through the use of structure-identification algorithms, I will first quantify the integrated export of organic carbon associated with mesoscale structures, which I expect to represent a significant fraction of the total export flux. Then I will identify the physical and biological drivers of the mesoscale flux modulation, with a particular focus on the role of mesoscale enhanced vertical advective fluxes and local changes in the community structure. This project will allow me to not only to improve the current estimates of the total export of organic carbon, but also to provide a process-understanding of the flux drivers, both essential for future projections of the global carbon cycle.
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