Surface ocean-lower atmosphere study: Scientific synthesis and contribution to Earth system science

Abstract

The domain of the surface ocean and lower atmosphere is a complex, highly dynamic component of the Earth system. Better understanding of the physics and biogeochemistry of the air-sea interface and the processes that control the exchange of mass and energy across that boundary define the scope of the Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) project. The scientific questions driving SOLAS research, as laid out in the SOLAS Science Plan and Implementation Strategy for the period 2004-2014, are highly challenging, inherently multidisciplinary and broad. During that decade, SOLAS has significantly advanced our knowledge. Discoveries related to the physics of exchange, global trace gas budgets and atmospheric chemistry, the CLAW hypothesis (named after its authors, Charlson, Lovelock, Andreae and Warren), and the influence of nutrients and ocean productivity on important biogeochemical cycles, have substantially changed our views of how the Earth system works and revealed knowledge gaps in our understanding. As such SOLAS has been instrumental in contributing to the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) mission of identification and assessment of risks posed to society and ecosystems by major changes in the Earth́s biological, chemical and physical cycles and processes during the Anthropocene epoch. SOLAS is a bottom-up organization, whose scientific priorities evolve in response to scientific developments and community needs, which has led to the launch of a new 10-year phase. SOLAS (2015–2025) will focus on five core science themes that will provide a scientific basis for understanding and projecting future environmental change and for developing tools to inform societal decision-making

Perspective on identifying and characterizing the processes controlling iron speciation and residence time at the atmosphere-ocean interface

“…All participants agreed that detailed long-term in situ measurements that can monitor both atmosphere and ocean properties are also necessary. Long-term observations that can link atmospheric material transport and marine biogeochemistry would facilitate both communications between groups working in different areas and development of universal parameterizations for implementation in numerical models (Brévière et al, 2015). The temporal resolution of sampling at the sites should be sufficient to resolve variability in both atmospheric deposition and ecosystem responses.…”

A multi-decade record of high-quality <i>f</i>CO<sub>2</sub> data in version 3 of the Surface Ocean CO<sub>2</sub> Atlas (SOCAT)

“…Newly created figures based on the SOCAT data collection and existing figures from SOCAT publications have been used in scientific publications. Such figures generally highlight the availability or lack of surface ocean CO 2 data in specific regions or seasons or over time (Chierici et al, 2012;Regnier et al, 2013;Wanninkhof et al, 2013a;Ciais et al, 2014;Majkut et al, 2014a;Brévière et al, 2015;Hofmann et al, 2015).…”

Biological modification of mechanical properties of the sea surface microlayer, influencing waves, ripples, foam and air-sea fluxes

“…Foams and whitecaps are thus important in establishing global climate. In particular, they are critical in the production of sea-salt aerosols (O'Dowd and de Leeuw, 2007;Booth et al, 2012;Brévière et al, 2015) that contribute to the pool of cloud condensation nuclei in the atmosphere over the ocean, and in bringing to the ocean surface various organic and inorganic surfactant (sensu stricto) and sticky materials such as desert Fe-rich dust (Boyd, 2007), soot (Mari et al, 2014) and persistent pollutants (Zhang et al, 2007).…”