Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change
Considerable advances in the global ocean observing system over the last two decades offers an opportunity to provide more quantitative information on changes in heat and freshwater storage. Variations in these storage terms can arise through internal variability and also the response of the ocean t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00416/full |
| _version_ | 1819264851256541184 |
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| author | Matthew D. Palmer Paul J. Durack Maria Paz Chidichimo John A. Church Sophie Cravatte Katy Hill Johnny A. Johannessen Johannes Karstensen Tong Lee David Legler Matt Mazloff Eitarou Oka Sarah Purkey Ben Rabe Jean-Baptiste Sallée Bernadette M. Sloyan Sabrina Speich Karina von Schuckmann Josh Willis Susan Wijffels |
| author_facet | Matthew D. Palmer Paul J. Durack Maria Paz Chidichimo John A. Church Sophie Cravatte Katy Hill Johnny A. Johannessen Johannes Karstensen Tong Lee David Legler Matt Mazloff Eitarou Oka Sarah Purkey Ben Rabe Jean-Baptiste Sallée Bernadette M. Sloyan Sabrina Speich Karina von Schuckmann Josh Willis Susan Wijffels |
| author_sort | Matthew D. Palmer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Considerable advances in the global ocean observing system over the last two decades offers an opportunity to provide more quantitative information on changes in heat and freshwater storage. Variations in these storage terms can arise through internal variability and also the response of the ocean to anthropogenic climate change. Disentangling these competing influences on the regional patterns of change and elucidating their governing processes remains an outstanding scientific challenge. This challenge is compounded by instrumental and sampling uncertainties. The combined use of ocean observations and model simulations is the most viable method to assess the forced signal from noise and ascertain the primary drivers of variability and change. Moreover, this approach offers the potential for improved seasonal-to-decadal predictions and the possibility to develop powerful multi-variate constraints on climate model future projections. Regional heat storage changes dominate the steric contribution to sea level rise over most of the ocean and are vital to understanding both global and regional heat budgets. Variations in regional freshwater storage are particularly relevant to our understanding of changes in the hydrological cycle and can potentially be used to verify local ocean mass addition from terrestrial and cryospheric systems associated with contemporary sea level rise. This White Paper will examine the ability of the current ocean observing system to quantify changes in regional heat and freshwater storage. In particular we will seek to answer the question: What time and space scales are currently resolved in different regions of the global oceans? In light of some of the key scientific questions, we will discuss the requirements for measurement accuracy, sampling, and coverage as well as the synergies that can be leveraged by more comprehensively analyzing the multi-variable arrays provided by the integrated observing system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:36:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6448c1c2f45b434cb1d7b54b3069d91e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:36:03Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-6448c1c2f45b434cb1d7b54b3069d91e2022-12-21T17:32:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452019-08-01610.3389/fmars.2019.00416432264Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and ChangeMatthew D. Palmer0Paul J. Durack1Maria Paz Chidichimo2John A. Church3Sophie Cravatte4Katy Hill5Johnny A. Johannessen6Johannes Karstensen7Tong Lee8David Legler9Matt Mazloff10Eitarou Oka11Sarah Purkey12Ben Rabe13Jean-Baptiste Sallée14Bernadette M. Sloyan15Sabrina Speich16Karina von Schuckmann17Josh Willis18Susan Wijffels19Met Office Hadley Centre, Exeter, United KingdomLawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy (DOE), Livermore, CA, United StatesNational Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClimate Change Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement, Noumea, New CaledoniaWorld Meteorological Organization, Geneva, SwitzerlandNansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, NorwayGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, GermanyNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States0Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division, Climate Program Office (NOAA), Silver Spring, MD, United States1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States2Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States3Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany4UMR 7159, Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Paris, France5CSIRO, Oceans and Atmosphere, Hobart, TAS, Australia6Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) UMR8539, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France7Mercator Ocean, Ramonville-Saint-Agne, FranceNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States8Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United StatesConsiderable advances in the global ocean observing system over the last two decades offers an opportunity to provide more quantitative information on changes in heat and freshwater storage. Variations in these storage terms can arise through internal variability and also the response of the ocean to anthropogenic climate change. Disentangling these competing influences on the regional patterns of change and elucidating their governing processes remains an outstanding scientific challenge. This challenge is compounded by instrumental and sampling uncertainties. The combined use of ocean observations and model simulations is the most viable method to assess the forced signal from noise and ascertain the primary drivers of variability and change. Moreover, this approach offers the potential for improved seasonal-to-decadal predictions and the possibility to develop powerful multi-variate constraints on climate model future projections. Regional heat storage changes dominate the steric contribution to sea level rise over most of the ocean and are vital to understanding both global and regional heat budgets. Variations in regional freshwater storage are particularly relevant to our understanding of changes in the hydrological cycle and can potentially be used to verify local ocean mass addition from terrestrial and cryospheric systems associated with contemporary sea level rise. This White Paper will examine the ability of the current ocean observing system to quantify changes in regional heat and freshwater storage. In particular we will seek to answer the question: What time and space scales are currently resolved in different regions of the global oceans? In light of some of the key scientific questions, we will discuss the requirements for measurement accuracy, sampling, and coverage as well as the synergies that can be leveraged by more comprehensively analyzing the multi-variable arrays provided by the integrated observing system.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00416/fullheat contentfreshwater contentsalinitytemperatureocean observing systemclimate change |
| spellingShingle | Matthew D. Palmer Paul J. Durack Maria Paz Chidichimo John A. Church Sophie Cravatte Katy Hill Johnny A. Johannessen Johannes Karstensen Tong Lee David Legler Matt Mazloff Eitarou Oka Sarah Purkey Ben Rabe Jean-Baptiste Sallée Bernadette M. Sloyan Sabrina Speich Karina von Schuckmann Josh Willis Susan Wijffels Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change Frontiers in Marine Science heat content freshwater content salinity temperature ocean observing system climate change |
| title | Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change |
| title_full | Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change |
| title_fullStr | Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change |
| title_short | Adequacy of the Ocean Observation System for Quantifying Regional Heat and Freshwater Storage and Change |
| title_sort | adequacy of the ocean observation system for quantifying regional heat and freshwater storage and change |
| topic | heat content freshwater content salinity temperature ocean observing system climate change |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00416/full |
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