ALBERT

Description: The storage concession "Minerbio Stoccaggio" (Bologna, Northern Italy) covers a 69 km 2 area, 65% of hich is located in the Minerbio municipality. Since 1979, a microseismic network for the monitoring of seismicity, eventually induced by gas storage activities, has been installed in this area. The network was operated by Stogit S.p.A, a subsidiary company of Snam, which is the largest storage operator in Italy. In 2016, the microseismic network, consisting of three surface stations and one 100-m-deep borehole sensor with minimum interstation distances of about 3.0 km, was integrated with 12 regional stations installed in an 80 × 80 km 2 area centered on the surface projection of the reservoir. In 2018, the microseismic network was enhanced by adding one surface and three 150-m-deep borehole stations. In this work, we evaluate the detection improvement of the microseismic network, integrated with the regional stations. We define two crustal volumes for earthquake detection: the inner domain of detection, IDD (10 × 10 × 5) km 3 , within which we should ensure the highest network performance, and the extended domain of detection, EDD (22 × 22 × 11) km 3 . By comparing the simulated power spectral density of hypothetical seismic sources located in EDD with the average power spectra of ambient seismic noise observed at each station site, we calculate detection and localization thresholds for the two above-mentioned networks. Under unfavourable noise conditions, we find that the present operative seismic network allows locating earthquakes with M L ≥ 0.8 occurring at the depth of the reservoir and with M L ≥ 1.0 if located within IDD.

Description: Funding information This study received financial support from BComune di Minerbio^ under the grant BSperimentazione ILG Minerbio^ (grant number 0913.010)

Description: Published

Description: 967–977

Description: 3SR TERREMOTI - Attività dei Centri

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This paper presents an original multidisciplinary (geological-structural-geomorphological and seismological) study aimed at investigating the origin of diffused seismic damages affecting several ancient buildings in the Roman port city of Ostia. We also evaluate the possibility to relate these damages to a previously hypothesized ENE-WSW trending fault, bordering the morphological height upon which the Ostia town was founded. Aimed at this scope, we performed seismic noise measures (by using 14 seismic stations) that show no significantly different response and lack of significant ground motion differential amplifications. The coexistence of (i) no local geological heterogeneities and (ii) low amplification of spectral ratios in the recorded seismic signals seems to exclude that the observed seismic damage may be the consequence of significant site effects. When also the large distance from the strongest Apennine’s seismogenic source areas is considered, the possibility that the observed damage may be the consequence of local events should be considered. We discuss the potentiality of the ENE-WSW trending fault as the source of the observed seismic damages, highlighting the supporting evidence as well as the uncertainties of such interpretation.

Description: Published

Description: 833–851

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This work describes the analysis of the strong-motion data from the Engineering Strong Motion database (ESM, http://esm.mi.ingv.it), aimed at: (1) extract a dataset of accelero- metric waveforms recorded during the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequence; (2) iden- tify the recording stations to be used as reference sites for further seismological analysis; (3) select the records to be used as input for seismic microzonation of higher level at 137 municipalities. Firstly, a residual analysis is carried out on the extracted dataset to perform: (1) the quality check of the waveforms recorded by temporary networks installed soon after the occurrence of the rst main shock (M 6.0, 24 August 2016); (2) the estimation of the site-to-site residual term for each recording station with the aim of recognising potential reference rock sites. Finally, the software REXELite, integrated within the ESM website, is adopted to select suites of spectrum-compatible accelerograms, that will be used as input for calculating site ampli cations through 1D and 2D simulations at sites which suf- fered the greatest damage. The results of this work demonstrate the success of the synergy among Italian institutions. The setup of key infrastructures, such as emergency networks and data repositories, together with the knowledge developed during national projects, turned out to be successful in terms of timely intervention during the emergency phase and the planning of the post-emergency.

Description: Published

Description: 5533–5551

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Our knowledge on distribution, habitats and behavior of Southern Ocean fishes living at water depths beyond scuba-diving limits is still sparse, as it is difficult to obtain quantitative data on these aspects of their biology. Here, we report the results of an analysis of seabed images to investigate species composition, behavior, spatial distribution and preferred habitats of demersal fish assemblages in the southern Weddell Sea. Our study was based on a total of 2736 high-resolution images, covering a total seabed area of 11,317 m2, which were taken at 13 stations at water depths between 200 and 750 m. Fish were found in 380 images. A total of 379 notothenioid specimens were recorded, representing four families (Nototheniidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae), 17 genera and 25 species. Nototheniidae was the most speciose fam- ily, including benthic species (Trematomus spp.) and the pelagic species Pleuragramma antarctica, which was occasionally recorded in dense shoals. Bathydraconids ranked second with six species, followed by artedidraconids and channichthyids, both with five species. Most abundant species were Trematomus scotti and T. lepidorhinus among nototheniids, and Dol- loidraco longedorsalis and Pagetopsis maculatus among artedidraconids and channichthyids, respectively. Both T. lepi- dorhinus and P. maculatus preferred seabed habitats characterized by biogenous debris and rich epibenthic fauna, whereas T. scotti and D. longedorsalis were frequently seen resting on fine sediments and scattered gravel. Several fish species were recorded to make use of the three-dimensional structure formed by epibenthic foundation species, like sponges, for perching or hiding inside. Nesting behavior was observed, frequently in association with dropstones, in species from various families, including Channichthyidae (Chaenodraco wilsoni and Pagetopsis macropterus) and Bathydraconidae (Cygnodraco mawsoni).

Description: A new 21.3m firn core was drilled in 2015 at a coastal Antarctic high-accumulation site in Adélie Land (66.78◦ S; 139.56◦ E, 602 m a.s.l.), named Terre Adélie 192A (TA192A). The mean isotopic values (−19.3 ‰ ± 3.1 ‰ for δ18O and 5.4 ‰±2.2 ‰ for deuterium excess) are consistent with other coastal Antarctic values. No significant isotope–temperature relationship can be evidenced at any timescale. This rules out a simple interpretation in terms of local temperature. An observed asymmetry in the δ18O seasonal cycle may be explained by the precipitation of air masses coming from the eastern and western sectors in autumn and winter, recorded in the d-excess signal showing outstanding values in austral spring versus autumn. Significant positive trends are observed in the annual d-excess record and local sea ice extent (135–145◦ E) over the period 1998–2014. However, process studies focusing on resulting isotopic compositions and particularly the deuterium excess–δ18O relationship, evidenced as a potential fingerprint of moisture origins, as well as the collection of more isotopic measurements in Adélie Land are needed for an accurate interpretation of our signals.

Description: Due to its year-round accessibility and excellent on-site infrastructure, Kongsfjorden and the Ny-Ålesund Research and Monitoring Facility have become established as a primary location to study the impact of environmental change on Arctic coastal ecosystems. Due to its location right at the interface of Arctic and Atlantic oceanic regimes, Kongsfjorden already experiences large amplitudes of variability in physico/chemical conditions and might, thus, be considered as an early warning indicator of future changes, which can then be extrapolated in a pan-Arctic perspective. Already now, Kongsfjorden represents one of the best-studied Arctic fjord systems. However, research conducted to date has concentrated largely on small disciplinary projects, prompting the need for a higher level of integration of future research activities. This contribution, thus, aims at identifying gaps in knowledge and research priorities with respect to ecological and adaptive responses to Arctic ecosystem changes. By doing so we aim to provide a stimulus for the initiation of new international and interdisciplinary research initiatives.

Description: The timing and intensity of snowmelt processes on sea ice are key drivers determining the seasonal sea-ice energy and mass budgets. In the Arctic, satellite passive microwave and radar observations have revealed a trend towards an earlier snowmelt onset during the last decades, which is an important aspect of Arctic amplification and sea ice decline. Around Antarctica, snowmelt on perennial ice is weak and very different than in the Arctic, with most snow surviving the summer. Here we compile time series of snowmelt-onset dates on seasonal and perennial Antarctic sea ice from 1992 to 2014/15 using active microwave observations from European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1/2), Quick Scatterometer (QSCAT) and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) radar scatterometers. We define two snowmelt transition stages: A weak backscatter rise indicating the initial warming and destructive metamorphism of the snowpack (pre-melt), followed by a rapid backscatter rise indicating the onset of thaw-freeze cycles (snowmelt). Results show large interannual variability with an average pre-melt onset date of 29 November and melt onset of 10 December, respectively, on perennial ice, without any significant trends over the study period, consistent with the small trends of Antarctic sea ice extent. There was a latitudinal gradient from early snowmelt onsets in mid-November in the northern Weddell Sea to late (end-December) or even absent snowmelt conditions in the southern Weddell Sea. We show that QSCAT Ku-band (13.4 GHz signal frequency) derived pre-melt and snowmelt onset dates are earlier by 20 and 18 days, respectively, than ERS and ASCAT C-band (5.6 GHz) derived dates. This offset has been considered when constructing the time series. Snowmelt onset dates from passive microwave observations (37 GHz) are later by 14 and 6 days than those from the scatterometers, respectively. Based on these characteristic differences between melt onset dates observed by different microwave wavelengths, we developed a conceptual model which illustrates how the seasonal evolution of snow temperature profiles may affect different microwave bands with different penetration depths. These suggest that future multi-frequency active/passive microwave satellite missions could be used to resolve melt processes throughout the vertical snow column of thick snow on perennial Antarctic sea ice.

Description: Although quantitative isotope data from speleothems has been used to evaluate isotope-enabled model simulations, currently no consensus exists regarding the most appropriate methodology through which to achieve this. A number of modelling groups will be running isotope-enabled palaeoclimate simulations in the framework of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6, so it is timely to evaluate different approaches to using the speleothem data for data–model comparisons. Here, we illustrate this using 456 globally distributed speleothem δ18O records from an updated version of the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and Analysis (SISAL) database and palaeoclimate simulations generated using the ECHAM5-wiso isotope-enabled atmospheric circulation model. We show that the SISAL records reproduce the first-order spatial patterns of isotopic variability in the modern day, strongly supporting the application of this dataset for evaluating model-derived isotope variability into the past. However, the discontinuous nature of many speleothem records complicates the process of procuring large numbers of records if data–model comparisons are made using the traditional approach of comparing anomalies between a control period and a given palaeoclimate experiment. To circumvent this issue, we illustrate techniques through which the absolute isotope values during any time period could be used for model evaluation. Specifically, we show that speleothem isotope records allow an assessment of a model’s ability to simulate spatial isotopic trends. Our analyses provide a protocol for using speleothem isotope data for model evaluation, including screening the observations to take into account the impact of speleothem mineralogy on δ18O values, the optimum period for the modern observational baseline and the selection of an appropriate time window for creating means of the isotope data for palaeo-time-slices.

Description: We present here the first results, for the preindustrial and mid-Holocene climatological periods, of the newly developed isotope-enhanced version of the fully coupled Earth system model MPI-ESM, called hereafter MPI-ESM-wiso. The water stable isotopes H16O, H18O and HDO have been implemented into all components of the coupled model setup. The mid-Holocene provides the opportunity to evaluate the model response to changes in the seasonal and latitudinal distribution of insolation induced by different orbital forcing conditions. The results of our equilibrium simulations allow us to evaluate the performance of the isotopic model in simulating the spatial and temporal variations of water isotopes in the different compartments of the hydrological system for warm climates. For the preindustrial climate, MPI-ESM-wiso reproduces very well the observed spatial distribution of the isotopic content in precipitation linked to the spatial variations in temperature and precipitation rate. We also find a good model–data agreement with the observed distribution of isotopic composition in surface seawater but a bias with the presence of surface seawater that is too 18O-depleted in the Arctic Ocean. All these results are improved compared to the previous model version ECHAM5/MPIOM. The spatial relationships of water isotopic composition with temperature, precipitation rate and salinity are consistent with observational data. For the preindustrial climate, the interannual relationships of water isotopes with temperature and salinity are globally lower than the spatial ones, consistent with previous studies. Simulated results under mid-Holocene conditions are in fair agreement with the isotopic measurements from ice cores and continental speleothems. MPI-ESM-wiso simulates a decrease in the isotopic composition of precipitation from North Africa to the Tibetan Plateau via India due to the enhanced monsoons during the mid-Holocene. Over Greenland, our simulation indicates a higher isotopic composition of precipitation linked to higher summer temperature and a reduction in sea ice, shown by positive isotope–temperature gradient. For the Antarctic continent, the model simulates lower isotopic values over the East Antarctic plateau, linked to the lower temperatures during the mid-Holocene period, while similar or higher isotopic values are modeled over the rest of the continent. While variations of isotopic contents in precipitation over West Antarctica between mid-Holocene and preindustrial periods are partly controlled by changes in temperature, the transport of relatively 18O-rich water vapor near the coast to the western ice core sites could play a role in the final isotopic composition. So, more caution has to be taken about the reconstruction of past temperature variations during warm periods over this area. The coupling of such a model with an ice sheet model or the use of a zoomed grid centered on this region could help to better describe the role of the water vapor transport and sea ice around West Antarctica. The reconstruction of past salinity through isotopic content in sea surface waters can be complicated for regions with strong ocean dynamics, variations in sea ice regimes or significant changes in freshwater budget, giving an extremely variable relationship between the isotopic content and salinity of ocean surface waters over small spatial scales. These complicating factors demonstrate the complexity of interpreting water isotopes as past climate signals of warm periods like the mid-Holocene. A systematic isotope model intercomparison study for further insights on the model dependency of these results would be beneficial.

Description: Modern Society needs interactive public discussion to provide an effective way of focusing on hydrological hazards and their consequences. Embracing a holistic Earth system Science approach, we experiment since 2004 different stimulating educational/communicative model which emotionally involves the participants to raise awareness on the social dimension of the disaster hydrogeological risk reduction, pointing out that human behavior is the crucial factor in the degree of vulnerability and the likelihood of disasters taking place. The implementation of strategies for risk mitigation must include educational aspects, as well as economical and societal ones. Education is the bridge between knowledge and understanding and the key to raise risk perception. Children’s involvement might trigger a chain reaction that reinforce and spread the culture of risk. No matter how heavy was the rain that hit our land in the past and recent seasons, we still are not prepared. If on one hand we need to fight against worsening Global Warming that trigger extreme meteorological events, we should also work on sustainable land use and promote landscape preservation. Since science can work on improving knowledge of phenomena, technology can provide modern tool to reduce the impact of disasters, children and adults education is the flywheel to provide the change. We present here two cases selected among the wide range of educational activities that we have tested and to which more than 2,000 students and adults have participated within a period of 12 years. They include learn-by-playing, hands-on, emotional-learning activities, open questions seminars, learning paths, curiosity-driven approaches, special venues and science outreach.

Description: Sendai Partnerships 2015-2025

Description: Published

Description: Ljubljana (Slovenia)

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: The systematic study of biological basis of behavior and of the process involved in economical choices has outlined a new paradigm of research: neuroeconomics. Now the intersection between neuroscience, psychology and economics, neuroeconomics presents itself as an alternative to the neoclassical vision on economics, according to which the homo oeconomicus acts within the bonds of a formalizing rationality tending to the maximization of the anticipated utility. Brain imagining methods have shown that the decision-making processes activate the frontal lobe and the limbic system above all, a big circonvolution running through the callous body on the medial surface of the hemispheres, extending itself down, responsible for the regulation of emotional phenomena. Reinforcing such a tendency, we find the injury paradigm. It was observed that frontal lobe injuries harm the capacity of making advantageous decisions either in one’s own behalf or in others, as well as decisions according to the social conventions. In this paper, we will try to show that if, by the one hand, the neuro visual methods have given us a great amount of data, on the other hand, using them uncritically, with the recurrent confusion between “correlation” and “causal relation”—contemporary microevents indicate only simple correlations, and no cause-effect relation—risks to stress the relevant explanatory gap regarding the abstract ideal of understanding the nature of the brain.

Description: Published

Description: 135-141

Description: 2TM. Divulgazione Scientifica

Description: This paper investigates whether and how depressive disorders affect speech and in particular timing strategies for speech pauses (empty and filled pauses, as well as, phoneme lengthening). The investigation is made exploiting read and spontaneous narratives . The collected data are from 24 subjects, divided into two groups (depressed and control) asked to read a tale, as well as, spontaneously report on their daily activities. Ten different frequency and duration measures for pauses and clauses are proposed and have been collected using the PRAAT software on the speech recordings produced by the participants. A T-Student test for independent samples was applied on the collected frequency and duration measures in order to ascertain whether significant differences between healthy and depressed speech measures are observed. In the “spontaneous narrative” condition, depressed patients exhibited significant differences in: the average duration of their empty pauses, the average frequency, and the average duration of their clauses. In the read narratives, only the average pause’s frequency of the clauses was significantly lower in the depressed subjects with respect to the healthy ones. The results suggest that depressive disorders affect speech quality and speech production through pause and clause durations, as well as, clause quantities. In particular, the significant differences in clause quantities (observed both in the read and spontaneous narratives), suggest a strong general effect of depressive symptoms on cognitive and psychomotor functions. Depressive symptoms produce changes in the planned timing of pauses, even when reading, modifying the timing of pausing strategies.

Description: Published

Description: 73-82

Description: 5TM. Informazione ed editoria

Description: t The role of riverine freshwater inflow on the Central Mediterranean Overturning Circulation (CMOC) was studied using a high-resolution ocean model with a complete distribution of rivers in the Adriatic and Ionian catchment areas. The impact of river runoff on the Adriatic and Ionian Sea basins was assessed by a twin experiment, with and without runoff, from 1999 to 2012. This study tries to show the connection between the Adriatic as a marginal sea containing the downwelling branch of the anti-estuarine CMOC and the large runoff occurring there. It is found that the multiannual CMOC is a persistent anti-estuarine structure with secondary estuarine cells that strengthen in years of large realistic river runoff. The CMOC is demonstrated to be controlled by wind forcing at least as much as by buoyancy fluxes. It is found that river runoff affects the CMOC strength, enhancing the amplitude of the secondary estuarine cells and reducing the intensity of the dominant anti-estuarine cell. A large river runoff can produce a positive buoyancy flux without switching off the antiestuarine CMOC cell, but a particularly low heat flux and wind work with normal river runoff can reverse it. Overall by comparing experiments with, without and with unrealistically augmented runoff we demonstrate that rivers affect the CMOC strength but they can never represent its dominant forcing mechanism and the potential role of river runoff has to be considered jointly with wind work and heat flux, as they largely contribute to the energy budget of the basin. Looking at the downwelling branch of the CMOC in the Adriatic basin, rivers are demonstrated to locally reduce the volume of Adriatic dense water formed in the Southern Adriatic Sea as a result of increased water stratification. The spreading of the Adriatic dense water into the Ionian abyss is affected as well: dense waters overflowing the Otranto Strait are less dense in a realistic runoff regime, with respect to no runoff experiment, and confined to a narrower band against the Italian shelf with less lateral spreading toward the Ionian Sea center. 1

Description: Published

Description: 1675-1703

Description: 4A. Oceanografia e clima

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Humans have very high requirements and expectations when communicating through speech, other than simplicity, flexibility and easiness of interaction. This is because voice interactions do not require cognitive efforts, attention, and memory resources. Voice technologies are however still constrained to use cases and scenarios giving the existing limitations of speech synthesis and recognition systems. Which is the status of nonlinear speech processing techniques and the steps made for cross-fertilization among disciplines? This chapter will provide a short overview trying to answer the above question.

Description: Published

Description: 5-11

Description: 5TM. Informazione ed editoria

Description: Since the past decade, geodetic techniques are widely used to gain important information for the monitoring and modeling of the deformation of the Earth at different length and time scales. Although the GNSS derived estimates of the Earth crust velocity are becoming more and more reliable, advanced data analysis techniques are needed to recognize geophysical features in the GNSS time-series, e.g., non linear behaviors, discontinuities in the signal and in its derivative, i.e., in the velocity. Unfortunately these phenomena are often hidden in the time-series noise and external information, as seismic events, are not always known. The main focus of this work is the detection of signal discontinuities in GNSS time-series through the use of advanced analysis techniques: the wavelets, the Bayesian and the variational methods. The Mumford and Shah (Commun Pure Appl Math 42:577–685, 1989) and the Blake and Zisserman (Visual reconstruction, 1987) variational models for signal segmentation can detect signal discontinuities in an explicitly way. The Blake and Zisserman (Visual reconstruction, 1987) model can also detect discontinuities of the signal first derivative, i.e., velocity abrupt changes can be detected. At first, to prove and assess the capability to detect discontinuities correctly, the methods have been applied to some Cascadia (North America) time-series, characterized by well known aseismic deformations. A second test area has been taken into account: the Calabrian Arc subduction zone, in southern Italy. The analyzed Italian GNSS time-series are characterized by very weak and noisy signals and the geodynamic of the area is mostly unknown. When present, discontinuities are expected to be very small and compatible with the signal noise. This motivates the use of advanced data analysis techniques to investigate the presence of discontinuities. At the moment, the analysis of the Italian time-series has revealed several discontinuities which nature cannot be labeled easily as geophysical or geodetic.

Description: Published

Description: 627-634

Description: 2T. Deformazione crostale attiva

Description: Algorithms based on artificial intelligence (AI) have had a strong development in recent years in different research fields of earth science such as seismology and volcanology. In particular, they have been applied to the study of the volcanic eruptive products of the recent activity of Mount Etna volcano. This work presents an application of the self-organizing map (SOM) neural networks to perform a clustering analysis on petrographic patterns of rocks of Somma–Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei volcanoes, in the Neapolitan area. The goal is to highlight possible affinity between the magmatic reservoirs of these two volcanic complexes. The SOM is known for its ability to cluster data by using intrinsic similarity measures without any previous information about their distribution. Moreover, it allows an easy understandable data visualization by using a two-dimensional map. The SOM has been tested on a geochemical dataset of 271 samples, consisting of 134 samples of Campi Flegrei eruptions (named CF), 24 samples of Somma–Vesuvius effusive eruptions (VF), 73 samples of Somma–Vesuvius explosive eruptions (VX), and finally 40 samples of “foreign” eruptions (ET), included to verify the neural net classification capability. After a pre-processing phase, applied to have a more appropriate data representation as input for the SOM, each sample has been encoded through a vector of 23 features, containing information about major bulk components, trace elements, and Sr isotopic ratio. The resulting SOM identifies three main clusters, and in particular, the foreign patterns (ET) are well separated from the other ones being mainly grouped in a single node. In conclusion, the obtained results suggest the ability of SOM neural network to associate volcanic rock suites on the basis of their geochemical imprint and can be consistent with the hypothesis that there might be a common magma source beneath the whole Neapolitan area.

Description: Published

Description: 55-60

Description: 3V. Proprietà chimico-fisiche dei magmi e dei prodotti vulcanici

Description: This paper investigates the ability of adolescents (aged 13–15 years) and young adults (aged 20–26 years) to decode affective bursts culturally situated in a different context (Francophone vs. South Italian). The effects of context show that Italian subjects perform poorly with respect to the Francophone ones revealing a significant native speaker advantage in decoding the selected affective bursts. In addition, adolescents perform better than young adults, particularly in the decoding and intensity ratings of affective bursts of happiness, pain, and pleasure suggesting an effect of age related to language expertise.

Description: Published

Description: 1TM. Formazione

Description: Many marine gastropods show species-specific behavioral responses to different predators, but less is known about the mechanisms influencing differences or similarities in specific responses. Herein, we examined whether two limpet species, Scurria viridula (Lamarck, 1819) and Fissurella latimarginata (Sowerby, 1835), show species- and size-specific similarities or differences in their reaction to predatory seastars and crabs. Both S. viridula and F. latimarginata reacted to their main seastar predators with escape responses. In contrast, both limpets did not flee from common crab predators, but, instead, fastened to the rock. All tested size classes of both limpet species reacted in a similar way, escaping from seastars, but clamping onto the rock in response to crabs. Limpets could reach velocities sufficient to outrun their specific seastar predators, but they were not fast enough to escape crabs. Experiments with limpets of different shell conditions (with and without shell damage) indicated that F. latimarginata with a damaged shell showed “accommodation movements” (slow movements away from stimulus) in response to predatory crabs. In contrast, intact F. latimarginata and all S. viridula (intact and damaged) clamped the shell down to the substratum. The response details suggest that the keyhole limpet F. latimarginata is more sensitive to predators (faster reaction time, longer escape distances, and higher proportion of reacting individuals) than S. viridula, possibly because the morphology of F. latimarginata (the relationship of its shell size and structure to its total body size) makes this species more vulnerable to predation. Our study suggests that chemically mediated effects of seastar and crab predators result in contrasting behavioral responses of both limpet species, independent of their habitat and morphology. Despite the different characteristics of the limpet species and the identity of predators, the limpets react in comparable ways to similar predator types.

Description: In this study, we present results obtained from modelling the mid-Pliocene warm period using the Community Earth System Models (COSMOS, version: COSMOS-landveg r2413, 2009) with the two different sets of boundary conditions prescribed for the two phases of the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP). Boundary conditions, model forcing, and modelling methodology of the two phases of PlioMIP, tagged PlioMIP1 and PlioMIP2,differ considerably in palaeogeography, in particular with regards to the state of ocean gateways, ice-masks, vegetation and topography. Further differences between model setups as suggested for PlioMIP1 and PlioMIP2 consider updates to the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), that is specified as 405 and 400 parts per million by volume (ppmv) for PlioMIP1 and PlioMIP2, respectively, as well as minor differences in the concentrations of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) due to changes in the protocol of the Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Project (PMIP) from phase 3 to phase 4. With this manuscript, we bridge the gap between our contributions to PlioMIP1 (Stepanek and Lohmann, 2012) and PlioMIP2 (Stepanek et al., 2019). We highlight some of the effects that differences in the chosen Mid-Pliocene model setup (PlioMIP2 vs. PlioMIP1) have on the climate state as derived with the COSMOS, as this information will be valuable in the framework of the model-model and model-data-comparison within PlioMIP2. We evaluate the model sensitivity to improved mid-Pliocene boundary conditions using PlioMIP’s core mid-Pliocene experiments for PlioMIP1 and PlioMIP2, and present further simulations where we test model sensitivity to variations in palaeogeography, orbit and concentration of CO2. Firstly,we highlight major changes in boundary conditions from PlioMIP1 to PlioMIP2 and also the limitations recorded from the initial effort. The results derived from of our simulations show that COSMOS simulates a mid-Pliocene climate state that is 0.08 K colder in PlioMIP2, if compared to PlioMIP1. On one hand, high-latitude warming,which is supported by proxy evidence of the mid-Pliocene, is underestimated in simulations of both PlioMIP1 andPlioMIP2. On the other hand, spatial variations in surface air temperature (SAT), sea surface temperature (SST) as well as the distribution of sea ice suggest improvement of simulated SAT and SST in PlioMIP2 if employing the updated palaeogeography. The PlioMIP2 Mid-Pliocene simulation produces warmer SSTs in the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean than derived from the respective PlioMIP1 climate state. The difference in prescribed CO2accountsfor 1.1 K of warming in the Arctic, leading to an ice-free summer in the PlioMIP1 simulation, and a quasi-ice-free summer in PlioMIP2. Furthermore, employing different orbital forcings in simulating the Mid-Pliocene lead to pronounced annual and seasonal variations, which is not accounted for by marine and terrestrial reconstruction of the time-slice.

Description: The Antarctic temperature changes over the past millennia remain more uncertain than in many other continental regions. This has several origins: (1) the number of high-resolution ice cores is small, in particular on the East Antarctic plateau and in some coastal areas in East Antarctica; (2) the short and spatially sparse instrumental records limit the calibration period for reconstructions and the assessment of the methodologies; (3) the link between isotope records from ice cores and local climate is usually complex and dependent on the spatial scales and timescales investigated. Here, we use climate model results, pseudo-proxy experiments and data assimilation experiments to assess the potential for reconstructing the Antarctic temperature over the last 2 millennia based on a new database of stable oxygen isotopes in ice cores compiled in the frame- work of Antarctica2k (Stenni et al., 2017). The well-known covariance between δ18O and temperature is reproduced in the two isotope-enabled models used (ECHAM5/MPI-OM and ECHAM5-wiso), but is generally weak over the different Antarctic regions, limiting the skill of the reconstructions. Furthermore, the strength of the link displays large variations over the past millennium, further affecting the potential skill of temperature reconstructions based on statistical methods which rely on the assumption that the last decades are a good estimate for longer temperature reconstructions. Using a data assimilation technique allows, in theory, for changes in the δ18O–temperature link through time and space to be taken into account. Pseudoproxy experiments confirm the benefits of using data assimilation methods instead of statistical methods that provide reconstructions with unrealistic variances in some Antarctic subregions. They also confirm that the relatively weak link between both variables leads to a limited potential for reconstructing temperature based on δ18O. However, the reconstruction skill is higher and more uniform among reconstruction methods when the reconstruction target is the Antarctic as a whole rather than smaller Antarctic subregions. This consistency between the methods at the large scale is also observed when reconstructing temperature based on the real δ18O regional composites of Stenni et al. (2017). In this case, temperature reconstructions based on data assimilation confirm the long-term cooling over Antarctica during the last millennium, and the later onset of anthropogenic warming compared with the simulations without data assimilation, which is especially visible in West Antarctica. Data assimilation also allows for models and direct observations to be reconciled by reproducing the east–west contrast in the recent temperature trends. This recent warming pattern is likely mostly driven by internal variability given the large spread of individual Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP)/Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) model realizations in simulating it. As in the pseudoproxy framework, the reconstruction methods perform differently at the subregional scale, especially in terms of the variance of the time series produced. While the potential benefits of using a data assimilation method instead of a statistical method have been highlighted in a pseudoproxy framework, the instrumental series are too short to confirm this in a realistic setup.

Description: Ice-wedge polygons are common features of lowland tundra in the continuous permafrost zone and prone to rapid degradation through melting of ground ice. There are many interrelated processes involved in ice-wedge thermokarst and it is a major challenge to quantify their influence on the stability of the permafrost underlying the landscape. In this study we used a numerical modelling approach to investigate the degradation of ice wedges with a focus on the influence of hydrological conditions. Our study area was Samoylov Island in the Lena River delta of northern Siberia, for which we had in situ measurements to evaluate the model. The tailored version of the CryoGrid 3 land surface model was capable of simulating the changing microtopography of polygonal tundra and also regarded lateral fluxes of heat, water, and snow. We demonstrated that the approach is capable of simulating ice-wedge degradation and the associated transition from a low-centred to a high-centred polygonal microtopography. The model simulations showed ice-wedge degradation under recent climatic conditions of the study area, irrespective of hydrological conditions. However, we found that wetter conditions lead to an earlier onset of degradation and cause more rapid ground subsidence. We set our findings in correspondence to observed types of ice-wedge polygons in the study area and hypothesized on remaining discrepancies between modelled and observed ice-wedge thermokarst activity. Our quantitative approach provides a valuable complement to previous, more qualitative and conceptual, descriptions of the possible pathways of ice-wedge polygon evolution. We concluded that our study is a blueprint for investigating thermokarst landforms and marks a step forward in understanding the complex interrelationships between various processes shaping ice-rich permafrost landscapes.

Description: Warming of the Arctic led to an increase in permafrost temperatures by about 0.3 �C during the last decade. Permafrost warming is associated with increasing sediment water content, permeability, and diffusivity and could in the long term alter microbial community composition and abundance even before permafrost thaws. We studied the long-term effect (up to 2500 years) of submarine permafrost warming on microbial communities along an onshore–offshore transect on the Siberian Arctic Shelf displaying a natural temperature gradient of more than 10 �C. We analysed the in situ development of bacterial abundance and community composition through total cell counts (TCCs), quantitative PCR of bacterial gene abundance, and amplicon sequencing and correlated the microbial community data with temperature, pore water chemistry, and sediment physicochemical parameters. On timescales of centuries, permafrost warming coincided with an overall decreasing microbial abundance, whereas millennia after warming microbial abundance was similar to cold onshore permafrost. In addition, the dissolved organic carbon content of all cores was lowest in submarine permafrost after millennial-scale warming. Based on correlation analysis, TCC, unlike bacterial gene abundance, showed a significant rank-based negative correlation with increasing temperature, while bacterial gene copy numbers showed a strong negative correlation with salinity. Bacterial community composition correlated only weakly with temperature but strongly with the pore water stable isotopes �18O and �D, as well as with depth. The bacterial community showed substantial spatial variation and an overall dominance of Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Proteobacteria, which are amongst the microbial taxa that were also found to be active in other frozen permafrost environments. We suggest that, millennia after permafrost warming by over 10 �C, microbial community composition and abundance show some indications for proliferation but mainly reflect the sedimentation history and paleoenvironment and not a direct effect through warming.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Microbiology 10 (2019): 115, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00115.

Description: This Research Topic was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China grant 2016YFA0601303, China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association grant DY135-E2-1-04, China SOA grant GASI-03-01-02-05, NSFC grants 41676122, 91328209, and 91428308, and CNOOC grant CNOOC-KJ125FZDXM00TJ001-2014.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wurch, L. L., Alexander, H., Frischkorn, K. R., Haley, S. T., Gobler, C. J., & Dyhrman, S. T. Transcriptional shifts highlight the role of nutrients in harmful brown tide dynamics. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, (2019):136, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00136.

Description: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) threaten ecosystems and human health worldwide. Controlling nitrogen inputs to coastal waters is a common HAB management strategy, as nutrient concentrations often suggest coastal blooms are nitrogen-limited. However, defining best nutrient management practices is a long-standing challenge: in part, because of difficulties in directly tracking the nutritional physiology of harmful species in mixed communities. Using metatranscriptome sequencing and incubation experiments, we addressed this challenge by assaying the in situ physiological ecology of the ecosystem destructive alga, Aureococcus anophagefferens. Here we show that gene markers of phosphorus deficiency were expressed in situ, and modulated by the enrichment of phosphorus, which was consistent with the observed growth rate responses. These data demonstrate the importance of phosphorus in controlling brown-tide dynamics, suggesting that phosphorus, in addition to nitrogen, should be evaluated in the management and mitigation of these blooms. Given that nutrient concentrations alone were suggestive of a nitrogen-limited ecosystem, this study underscores the value of directly assaying harmful algae in situ for the development of management strategies.

Description: This research was funded by NOAA Grant NA15NOS4780199 (SD), NA09NOA4780206 (SD and CG), and NA15NOS4780183 (CG) through the ECOHAB Program, publication number ECO929. Partial support was also provided by the World Surf League through the Columbia Center for Climate and Life, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Coastal Ocean Institute, and the Link Foundation. Kyle Frischkorn was funded under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published invan der Hoop, J. M., Fahlman, A., Shorter, K. A., Gabaldon, J., Rocho-Levine, J., Petrov, V., & Moore, M. J. Swimming energy economy in bottlenose dolphins under variable drag loading. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018):465, doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00465.

Description: Instrumenting animals with tags contributes additional resistive forces (weight, buoyancy, lift, and drag) that may result in increased energetic costs; however, additional metabolic expense can be moderated by adjusting behavior to maintain power output. We sought to increase hydrodynamic drag for near-surface swimming bottlenose dolphins, to investigate the metabolic effect of instrumentation. In this experiment, we investigate whether (1) metabolic rate increases systematically with hydrodynamic drag loading from tags of different sizes or (2) whether tagged individuals modulate speed, swimming distance, and/or fluking motions under increased drag loading. We detected no significant difference in oxygen consumption rates when four male dolphins performed a repeated swimming task, but measured swimming speeds that were 34% (〉1 m s-1) slower in the highest drag condition. To further investigate this observed response, we incrementally decreased and then increased drag in six loading conditions. When drag was reduced, dolphins increased swimming speed (+1.4 m s-1; +45%) and fluking frequency (+0.28 Hz; +16%). As drag was increased, swimming speed (-0.96 m s-1; -23%) and fluking frequency (-14 Hz; 7%) decreased again. Results from computational fluid dynamics simulations indicate that the experimentally observed changes in swimming speed would have maintained the level of external drag forces experienced by the animals. Together, these results indicate that dolphins may adjust swimming speed to modulate the drag force opposing their motion during swimming, adapting their behavior to maintain a level of energy economy during locomotion.

Description: Funding for this project was provided by the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (National Science Foundation via the Office of Naval Research N00014-11-1-0113 to MM) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR YIP Award N000141410563 to AF). Dolphin Quest provided in-kind support of animals, crew, and access to resources. JvdH was supported by a Postgraduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Battefeld, A., Popovic, M. A., van der Werf, D., & Kole, M. H. P. (2019). A versatile and open-source rapid LED switching system for one-photon imaging and photo-activation. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 12, (2019): 530. doi:10.3389/fncel.2018.00530.

Description: Combining fluorescence and transmitted light sources for microscopy is an invaluable method in cellular neuroscience to probe the molecular and cellular mechanisms of cells. This approach enables the targeted recording from fluorescent reporter protein expressing neurons or glial cells in brain slices and fluorescence-assisted electrophysiological recordings from subcellular structures. However, the existing tools to mix multiple light sources in one-photon microscopy are limited. Here, we present the development of several microcontroller devices that provide temporal and intensity control of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for computer controlled microscopy illumination. We interfaced one microcontroller with μManager for rapid and dynamic overlay of transmitted and fluorescent images. Moreover, on the basis of this illumination system we implemented an electronic circuit to combine two pulsed LED light sources for fast (up to 1 kHz) ratiometric calcium (Ca2+) imaging. This microcontroller enabled the calibration of intracellular Ca2+ concentration and furthermore the combination of Ca2+ imaging with optogenetic activation. The devices are based on affordable components and open-source hardware and software. Integration into existing bright-field microscope systems will take ∼1 day. The microcontroller based LED imaging substantially advances conventional illumination methods by limiting light exposure and adding versatility and speed.

Description: This work was supported by grants to MK: European Research Council (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement P261114, National Multiple Sclerosis Society grant (RG 4924A1/1) and a NWO-Vici grant 865.17.003. AB received a Grass Fellowship from the Grass Foundation.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Torres-Beltran, M., Mueller, A., Scofield, M., Pachiadaki, M. G., Taylor, C., Tyshchenko, K., Michiels, C., Lam, P., Ulloa, O., Jurgens, K., Hyun, J., Edgcomb, V. P., Crowe, S. A., & Hallam, S. J. Sampling and processing methods impact microbial community structure and potential activity in a seasonally anoxic fjord: Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6,(2019):132, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00132.

Description: The Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research (SCOR) Working Group 144 Microbial Community Responses to Ocean Deoxygenation workshop held in Vancouver, B.C on July 2014 had the primary objective of initiating a process to standardize operating procedures for compatible process rate and multi-omic (DNA, RNA, protein, and metabolite) data collection in marine oxygen minimum zones and other oxygen depleted waters. Workshop attendees participated in practical sampling and experimental activities in Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, a seasonally anoxic fjord. Experiments were designed to compare and cross-calibrate in situ versus bottle sampling methods to determine effects on microbial community structure and potential activity when using different filter combinations, filtration methods, and sample volumes. Resulting biomass was preserved for small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU or 16S rRNA) and SSU rRNA gene (rDNA) amplicon sequencing followed by downstream statistical and visual analyses. Results from these analyses showed that significant community shifts occurred between in situ versus on ship processed samples. For example, Bacteroidetes, Alphaproteobacteria, and Opisthokonta associated with on-ship filtration onto 0.4 μm filters increased fivefold compared to on-ship in-line 0.22 μm filters or 0.4 μm filters processed and preserved in situ. In contrast, Planctomycetes associated with 0.4 μm in situ filters increased fivefold compared to on-ship filtration onto 0.4 μm filters and on-ship in-line 0.22 μm filters. In addition, candidate divisions and Chloroflexi were primarily recovered when filtered onto 0.4 μm filters in situ. Results based on rRNA:rDNA ratios for microbial indicator groups revealed previously unrecognized roles of candidate divisions, Desulfarculales, and Desulfuromandales in sulfur cycling, carbon fixation and fermentation within anoxic basin waters. Taken together, filter size and in situ versus on-ship filtration had the largest impact on recovery of microbial groups with the potential to influence downstream metabolic reconstruction and process rate measurements. These observations highlight the need for establishing standardized and reproducible techniques that facilitate cross-scale comparisons and more accurately assess in situ activities of microbial communities.

Description: This work was performed under the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research (SCOR), the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute, an Office of Science User Facility, supported by the Office of Science of the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC02- 05CH11231, the G. Unger Vetlesen and Ambrose Monell Foundations, the Tula Foundation-funded Centre for Microbial Diversity and Evolution, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Genome British Columbia, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research through grants awarded to SH. McLane Research Laboratories and Connie Lovejoy contributed access to instrumentation for field work. Ship time support was provided by NSERC between 2007 and 2014 through grants awarded to SC, SH and Philippe Tortell MT-B was funded by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) and the Tula Foundation.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Benson, A., Brooks, C. M., Canonico, G., Duffy, E., Muller-Karger, F., Sosik, H. M., Miloslavich, P., & Klein, E.. Integrated observations and informatics improve understanding of changing marine ecosystems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018):428, doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00428.

Description: Marine ecosystems have numerous benefits for human societies around the world and many policy initiatives now seek to maintain the health of these ecosystems. To enable wise decisions, up to date and accurate information on marine species and the state of the environment they live in is required. Moreover, this information needs to be openly accessible to build indicators and conduct timely assessments that decision makers can use. The questions and problems being addressed demand global-scale investigations, transdisciplinary science, and mechanisms to integrate and distribute data that otherwise would appear to be disparate. Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and marine Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), conceptualized by the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON), respectively, guide observation of the ocean. Additionally, significant progress has been made to coordinate efforts between existing programs, such as the GOOS, MBON, and Ocean Biogeographic Information System collaboration agreement. Globally and nationally relevant indicators and assessments require increased sharing of data and analytical methods, sustained long-term and large-scale observations, and resources to dedicated to these tasks. We propose a vision and key tenets as a guiding framework for building a global integrated system for understanding marine biological diversity and processes to address policy and resource management needs. This framework includes: using EOVs and EBVs and implementing the guiding principles of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data and action ecology. In doing so, we can encourage relevant, rapid, and integrative scientific advancement that can be implemented by decision makers to maintain marine ecosystem health.

Description: We thank T.Malone and A. Knap for the invitation to contribute our ideas to this topic. We also thank the two reviewers and editor for their comments, which strengthened our manuscript.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Johnson, M. D., Beaudoin, D. J., Frada, M. J., Brownlee, E. F., & Stoecker, D. K. High grazing rates on cryptophyte algae in Chesapeake Bay. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018): 241. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00241.

Description: Cryptophyte algae are globally distributed photosynthetic flagellates found in freshwater, estuarine, and neritic ecosystems. While cryptophytes can be highly abundant and are consumed by a wide variety of protistan predators, few studies have sought to quantify in situ grazing rates on their populations. Here we show that autumnal grazing rates on in situ communities of cryptophyte algae in Chesapeake Bay are high throughout the system, while growth rates, particularly in the lower bay, were low. Analysis of the genetic diversity of cryptophyte populations within dilution experiments suggests that microzooplankton may be selectively grazing the fastest-growing members of the population, which were generally Teleaulax spp. We also demonstrate that potential grazing rates of ciliates and dinoflagellates on fluorescently labeled (FL) Rhodomonas salina, Storeatula major, and Teleaulax amphioxeia can be high (up to 149 prey predator−1 d−1), and that a Gyrodinium sp. and Mesodinium rubrum could be selective grazers. Potential grazing was highest for heterotrophic dinoflagellates, but due to its abundance, M. rubrum also had a high overall impact. This study reveals that cryptophyte algae in Chesapeake Bay can experience extremely high grazing pressure from phagotrophic protists, and that this grazing likely shapes their community diversity.

Description: The authors thank the National Science Foundation (OCE 1031718 and 1436169) for providing support for this research.

Description: The Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) is a synthesis effort providing regular compilations of surface to bottom ocean biogeochemical data, with an emphasis on seawater inorganic carbon chemistry and related variables determined through chemical analysis of water samples. This update of GLODAPv2, v2.2019, adds data from 116 cruises to the previous version, extending its coverage in time from 2013 to 2017, while also adding some data from prior years. GLODAPv2.2019 includes measurements from more than 1.1 million water samples from the global oceans collected on 840 cruises. The data for the 12 GLODAP core variables (salinity, oxygen, nitrate, silicate, phosphate, dissolved inorganic carbon, total alkalinity, pH, CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, and CCl4) have undergone extensive quality control, especially systematic evaluation of bias. The data are available in two formats: (i) as submitted by the data originator but updated to WOCE exchange format and (ii) as a merged data product with adjustments applied to minimize bias. These adjustments were derived by comparing the data from the 116 new cruises with the data from the 724 quality-controlled cruises of the GLODAPv2 data product. They correct for errors related to measurement, calibration, and data handling practices, taking into account any known or likely time trends or variations. The compiled and adjusted data product is believed to be consistent to better than 0.005 in salinity, 1 % in oxygen, 2 % in nitrate, 2 % in silicate, 2 % in phosphate, 4 µmol kg−1 in dissolved inorganic carbon, 4 µmol kg−1 in total alkalinity, 0.01–0.02 in pH, and 5 % in the halogenated transient tracers. The compilation also includes data for several other variables, such as isotopic tracers. These were not subjected to bias comparison or adjustments. The original data, their documentation and DOI codes are available in the Ocean Carbon Data System of NOAA NCEI (https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/ocads/oceans/GLODAPv2_2019/, last access: 17 September 2019). This site also provides access to the merged data product, which is provided as a single global file and as four regional ones – the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans – under https://doi.org/10.25921/xnme-wr20 (Olsen et al., 2019). The product files also include significant ancillary and approximated data. These were obtained by interpolation of, or calculation from, measured data. This paper documents the GLODAPv2.2019 methods and provides a broad overview of the secondary quality control procedures and results.

Description: We present a Lagrangian convective transport scheme developed for global chemistry and transport models, which considers the variable residence time that an air parcel spends in convection. This is particularly important for accurately simulating the tropospheric chemistry of short-lived species, e.g., for determining the time available for heterogeneous chemical processes on the surface of cloud droplets. In current Lagrangian convective transport schemes air parcels are stochastically redistributed within a fixed time step according to estimated probabilities for convective entrainment as well as the altitude of detrainment. We introduce a new scheme that extends this approach by modeling the variable time that an air parcel spends in convection by estimating vertical updraft velocities. Vertical updraft velocities are obtained by combining convective mass fluxes from meteorological analysis data with a parameterization of convective area fraction profiles. We implement two different parameterizations: a parameterization using an observed constant convective area fraction profile and a parameterization that uses randomly drawn profiles to allow for variability. Our scheme is driven by convective mass fluxes and detrainment rates that originate from an external convective parameterization, which can be obtained from meteorological analysis data or from general circulation models. We study the effect of allowing for a variable time that an air parcel spends in convection by performing simulations in which our scheme is implemented into the trajectory module of the ATLAS chemistry and transport model and is driven by the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data. In particular, we show that the redistribution of air parcels in our scheme conserves the vertical mass distribution and that the scheme is able to reproduce the convective mass fluxes and detrainment rates of ERA-Interim. We further show that the estimated vertical updraft velocities of our scheme are able to reproduce wind profiler measurements performed in Darwin, Australia, for velocities larger than 0.6 m s−1. SO2 is used as an example to show that there is a significant effect on species mixing ratios when modeling the time spent in convective updrafts compared to a redistribution of air parcels in a fixed time step. Furthermore, we perform long-time global trajectory simulations of radon-222 and compare with aircraft measurements of radon activity.

Description: The Protocol on Environmental Protection of the Antarctic Treaty stipulates that the protection of the Antarctic environment and associated ecosystems be fundamentally considered in the planning and conducting of all activities in the Antarctic Treaty area. One of the key pollutants created by human activities in the Antarctic is noise, which is primarily caused by ship traffic (from tourism, fisheries, and research), but also by geophysical research (e.g., seismic surveys) and by research station support activities (including construction). Arguably, amongst the species most vulnerable to noise are marine mammals since they specialize in using sound for communication, navigation and foraging, and therefore have evolved the highest auditory sensitivity among marine organisms. Reported effects of noise on marine mammals in lower-latitude oceans include stress, behavioral changes such as avoidance, auditory masking, hearing threshold shifts, and—in extreme cases—death. Eight mysticete species, 10 odontocete species, and six pinniped species occur south of 60�S (i.e., in the Southern or Antarctic Ocean). For many of these, the Southern Ocean is a key area for foraging and reproduction. Yet, little is known about how these species are affected by noise. We review the current prevalence of anthropogenic noise and the distribution of marine mammals in the Southern Ocean, and the current research gaps that prevent us from accurately assessing noise impacts on Antarctic marine mammals. A questionnaire given to 29 international experts on marine mammals revealed a variety of research needs. Those that received the highest rankings were (1) improved data on abundance and distribution of Antarctic marine mammals, (2) hearing data for Antarctic marine mammals, in particular a mysticete audiogram, and (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of various noise mitigation options. The management need with the highest score was a refinement of noise exposure criteria. Environmental evaluations are a requirement before conducting activities in the Antarctic. Because of a lack of scientific data on impacts, requirements and noise thresholds often vary between countries that conduct these evaluations, leading to different standards across countries. Addressing the identified research needs will help to implement informed and reasonable thresholds for noise production in the Antarctic and help to protect the Antarctic environment.

Description: Knowledge on basic biological functions of organisms is essential to understand not only the role they play in the ecosystems but also to manage and protect their populations. The study of biological processes, such as growth, reproduction and physiology, which can be approached in situ or by collecting specimens and rearing them in aquaria, is particularly challenging for deep-sea organisms like cold-water corals. Field experimental work and monitoring of deep-sea populations is still a chimera. Only a handful of research institutes or companies has been able to install in situ marine observatories in the Mediterranean Sea or elsewhere, which facilitate a continuous monitoring of deep-sea ecosystems. Hence, today’s best way to obtain basic biological information on these organisms is (1) working with collected samples and analysing them post-mortem and / or (2) cultivating corals in aquaria in order to monitor biological processes and investigate coral behaviour and physiological responses under different experimental treatments. The first challenging aspect is the collection process, which implies the use of oceanographic research vessels in most occasions since these organisms inhabit areas between ca. 150 m to more than 1000 m depth, and specific sampling gears. The next challenge is the maintenance of the animals on board (in situations where cruises may take weeks) and their transport to home laboratories. Maintenance in the home laboratories is also extremely challenging since special conditions and set-ups are needed to conduct experimental studies to obtain information on the biological processes of these animals. The complexity of the natural environment from which the corals were collected cannot be exactly replicated within the laboratory setting; a fact which has led some researchers to question the validity of work and conclusions drawn from such undertakings. It is evident that aquaria experiments cannot perfectly reflect the real environmental and trophic conditions where these organisms occur, but: (1) in most cases we do not have the possibility to obtain equivalent in situ information and (2) even with limitations, they produce relevant information about the biological limits of the species, which is especially valuable when considering potential future climate change scenarios. This chapter includes many contributions from different authors and is envisioned as both to be a practical “handbook” for conducting cold-water coral aquaria work, whilst at the same time offering an overview on the cold-water coral research conducted in Mediterranean laboratories equipped with aquaria infrastructure. Experiences from Atlantic and Pacific laboratories with extensive experience with cold-water coral work have also contributed to this chapter, as their procedures are valuable to any researcher interested in conducting experimental work with cold-water corals in aquaria. It was impossible to include contributions from all laboratories in the world currently working experimentally with cold-water corals in the laboratory, but at the conclusion of the chapter we attempt, to our best of our knowledge, to supply a list of several laboratories with operational cold-water coral aquaria facilities.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Braun, C. D., Skomal, G. B., & Thorrold, S. R. (2018). Integrating archival tag data and a high-resolution oceanographic model to estimate basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) movements in the western Atlantic. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018):25, doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00025.

Description: Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) populations are considered “vulnerable” globally and “endangered” in the northeast Atlantic by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Much of our knowledge of this species comes from surface observations in coastal waters, yet recent evidence suggests the majority of their lives may be spent in the deep ocean. Depth preferences of basking sharks have significantly limited movement studies that used pop-up satellite archival transmitting (PSAT) tags as conventional light-based geolocation is impossible for tagged animals that spend significant time below the photic zone. We tagged 57 basking sharks with PSAT tags in the NW Atlantic from 2004 to 2011. Many individuals spent several months at meso- and bathy-pelagic depths where accurate light-level geolocation was impossible during fall, winter and spring. We applied a newly-developed geolocation approach for the PSAT data by comparing three-dimensional depth-temperature profile data recorded by the tags to modeled in situ oceanographic data from the high-resolution HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). Observation-based likelihoods were leveraged within a state-space hidden Markov model (HMM). The combined tracks revealed that basking sharks moved from waters around Cape Cod, MA to as far as the SE coast of Brazil (20°S), a total distance of over 17,000 km. Moreover, 59% of tagged individuals with sufficient deployment durations (〉250 days) demonstrated seasonal fidelity to Cape Cod and the Gulf of Maine, with one individual returning to within 60 km of its tagging location 1 year later. Tagged sharks spent most of their time at epipelagic depths during summer months around Cape Cod and in the Gulf of Maine. During winter months, sharks spent extended periods at depths of at least 600 m while moving south to the Sargasso Sea, the Caribbean Sea, or the western tropical Atlantic. Our work demonstrates the utility of applying advances in oceanographic modeling to understanding habitat use of highly migratory, often meso- and bathy-pelagic, ocean megafauna. The large-scale movement patterns of tagged sharks highlight the need for international cooperation when designing and implementing conservation strategies to ensure that the species recovers from the historical effects of over-fishing throughout the North Atlantic Ocean.

Description: We thank B. Galuardi and C. H. Lam for contributing analysis code, and H. Dewar, U. Thygesen and I. Jonsen for valuable feedback on the manuscript. We gratefully acknowledge funding from the US National Science Foundation (OCE 0825148), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNS06AA96G), the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, and the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program. Computational support was provided by the AWS Cloud Credits for Research program. CB was funded by the Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Grassle Fellowship and Ocean Venture Fund at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship. Funding for the development of HYCOM has been provided by the National Ocean Partnership Program and the Office of Naval Research. Data assimilative products using HYCOM are funded by the U.S. Navy. Computer time for HYCOM was made available by the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in DeCarlo, T. M., Hen, H., & Farfan, G. A. (2018). The origin and role of organic matrix in coral calcification: Insights from comparing coral skeleton and abiogenic aragonite. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018): 170. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00170.

Description: Understanding the mechanisms of coral calcification is critical for accurately projecting coral reef futures under ocean acidification and warming. Recent suggestions that calcification is primarily controlled by organic molecules and the biological activity of the coral polyp imply that ocean acidification may not affect skeletal accretion. The basis for these suggestions relies heavily on correlating the presence of organic matter with the orientation and disorder of aragonite crystals in the skeleton, carrying the assumption that organic matter observed in the skeleton was produced by the polyp to control calcification. Here we use Raman spectroscopy to test whether there are differences in organic matter content between coral skeleton and abiogenic aragonites precipitated from seawater, both before and after thermal annealing (heating). We measured the background fluxorescence and intensity of C-H bonding signals in the Raman spectra, which are commonly attributed to coral polyp-derived skeletal organic matrix (SOM) and have been used to map its distribution. Surprisingly, we found no differences in either fluorescence or C-H bonding between abiogenic aragonite and coral skeleton. Annealing reduced the molecular disorder in coral skeleton, potentially due to removal of organic matter, but the same effect was also observed in the abiogenic aragonites. The presence of organic molecules in the abiogenic aragonites is further supported by measurements of N content and δ15N. Together, our data suggest that some of what has been interpreted in previous studies as polyp-derived SOM may actually be seawater-sourced organic matter or some other signal not unique to biogenic aragonite. Finally, we create a high-resolution Raman map of a Pocillopora skeleton to demonstrate how patterns of fluorescence and elevated calcifying fluid aragonite saturation state (ΩAr) along centers of calcification are consistent with both biological and physico-chemical controls. Our aim is to advance discussion on biological mediation of calcification and the implications for coral resilience in a high-CO2 world.

Description: This study was supported by an ARC Laureate Fellowship (FL120100049) awarded to Professor Malcolm McCulloch and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CE140100020).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bundy, R. M., Boiteau, R. M., McLean, C., Turk-Kubo, K. A., Mcllvin, M. R., Saito, M. A., Van Mooy, B. A. S., & Repeta, D. J.. Distinct siderophores contribute to iron cycling in the mesopelagic at station ALOHA. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018): 61. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00061.

Description: The distribution of dissolved iron (Fe), total organic Fe-binding ligands, and siderophores were measured between the surface and 400 m at Station ALOHA, a long term ecological study site in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Dissolved Fe concentrations were low throughout the water column and strong organic Fe-binding ligands exceeded dissolved Fe at all depths; varying from 0.9 nmol L−1 in the surface to 1.6 nmol L−1 below 150 m. Although Fe does not appear to limit microbial production, we nevertheless found siderophores at nearly all depths, indicating some populations of microbes were responding to Fe stress. Ferrioxamine siderophores were most abundant in the upper water column, with concentrations between 0.1 and 2 pmol L−1, while a suite of amphibactins were found below 200 m with concentrations between 0.8 and 11 pmol L−1. The distinct vertical distribution of ferrioxamines and amphibactins may indicate disparate strategies for acquiring Fe from dust in the upper water column and recycled organic matter in the lower water column. Amphibactins were found to have conditional stability constants (log KcondFeL1,Fe′) ranging from 12.0 to 12.5, while ferrioxamines had much stronger conditional stability constants ranging from 14.0 to 14.4, within the range of observed L1 ligands by voltammetry. We used our data to calculate equilibrium Fe speciation at Station ALOHA to compare the relative concentration of inorganic and siderophore complexed Fe. The results indicate that the concentration of Fe bound to siderophores was up to two orders of magnitude higher than inorganic Fe, suggesting that even if less bioavailable, siderophores were nevertheless a viable pathway for Fe acquisition by microbes at our study site. Finally, we observed rapid production of ferrioxamine E by particle-associated bacteria during incubation of freshly collected sinking organic matter. Fe-limitation may therefore be a factor in regulating carbon metabolism and nutrient regeneration in the mesopelagic.

Description: We thank Chief Scientists Tara Clemente and Sam Wilson for leading the SCOPE Diel cruises. We also thank the Captain and crew of the R/V Ka'imikai-O-Kanaloa, as well as Paul Henderson in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Nutrient Analytical Facility for nutrient analyses. This work was funded by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Postdoctoral Fellowship for RaB, the Simons Foundation (Award 329108), and the National Science Foundation (OCE-1356747). We also thank two reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript.

Description: The paper presents the results of 5 case studies on complex site e ects selected within the project for the level 3 seismic microzonation of several municipalities of Central Italy dam- aged by the 2016 seismic sequence. The case studies are characterized by di erent geo- logical and morphological con gurations: Monte San Martino is located along a hill slope, Montedinove and Arquata del Tronto villages are located at ridge top whereas Capitignano and Norcia lie in correspondence of sediment- lled valleys. Peculiarities of the sites are constituted by the presence of weathered/jointed rock mass, fault zone, shear wave veloc- ity inversion, complex surface and buried morphologies. These factors make the de ni- tion of the subsoil model and the evaluation of the local response particularly complex and di cult to ascertain. For each site, after the discussion of the subsoil model, the results of site response numerical analyses are presented in terms of ampli cation factors and acceleration response spectra in selected points. The physical phenomena governing the site response have also been investigated at each site by comparing 1D and 2D numerical analyses. Implications are deduced for seismic microzonation studies in similar geological and morphological conditions.

Description: Published

Description: 5741–5777

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: This paper describes the seismological analyses performed within the framework of the seismic microzonation study for the reconstruction of 138 municipalities damaged by the 2016–2017 sequence in Central Italy. Many waveforms were recorded over approximately 15 years at approximately 180 instrumented sites equipped with permanent or temporary stations in an area that includes all the damaged localities. Site response was assessed using earthquake and noise recordings at the selected stations through different parameters, such as spectral amplification curves, fundamental resonance frequencies, site-specific response spectra, and average amplification factors. The present study was a collaboration of many different institutions under the coordination of the Italian Center for Seismic Microzonation and its applications. The results were homogenized and gathered into site-specific forms, which represent the main deliverable for the benefit of Italian Civil Protection. It is remarkable that the bulk of this study was performed in a very short period (approximately 2 months) to provide quantitative information for detailed microzonation and future reconstruction of the damaged municipalities.

Description: Published

Description: 5553–5593

Description: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Holocene permafrost from ice wedge polygons in the vicinity of large seabird breeding colonies in the Thule District, NW Greenland, was drilled to explore the relation between permafrost aggradation and seabird presence. The latter is reliant on the presence of the North Water Polynya (NOW) in the northern Baffin Bay. The onset of peat accumulation associated with the arrival of little auks (Alle alle) in a breeding colony at Annikitisoq, north of Cape York, is radiocarbon-dated to 4400 cal BP. A thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) colony on Appat (Saunders Island) in the mouth of the Wolstenholme Fjord started 5650 cal BP. Both species provide marine-derived nutrients (MDNs) that fertilize vegetation and promote peat growth. The geochemical signature of organic matter left by the birds is traceable in the frozen Holocene peat. The peat accumulation rates at both sites are highest after the onset, decrease over time, and were about 2-times faster at the little auk site than at the thick-billed murre site. High accumulation rates induce shorter periods of organic matter (OM) decomposition before it enters the perennially frozen state. This is seen in comparably high C=N ratios and less depleted 13C, pointing to a lower degree of OM decomposition at the little auk site, while the opposite pattern can be discerned at the thick-billed murre site. Peat accumulation rates correspond to 15N trends, where decreasing accumulation led to increasing depletion in 15N as seen in the little-auk-related data. In contrast, the more decomposed OM of the thick-billed murre site shows almost stable 15N. Late Holocene wedge ice fed by cold season precipitation was studied at the little auk site and provides the first stable-water isotopic record from Greenland with mean 18O of 8:00:8, mean D of 36:25:7, mean d excess of 7:70:7, and a 18O-D slope of 7.27, which is close to those of the modern Thule meteoric water line. The syngenetic ice wedge polygon development is mirrored in testacean records of the little auk site and delineates polygon low-center, dry-out, and polygon-high-center stages. The syngenetic permafrost formation directly depending on peat growth (controlled by bird activity) falls within the period of neoglacial cooling and the establishment of the NOW, thus indirectly following the Holocene climate trends.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Rodriguez, E., Bourassa, M., Chelton, D., Farrar, J. T., Long, D., Perkovic-Martin, D., & Samelson, R. The winds and currents mission concept. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 438, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00438.

Description: The Winds and Currents Mission (WaCM) is a proposed approach to meet the need identified by the NRC Decadal Survey for the simultaneous measurements of ocean vector winds and currents. WaCM features a Ka-band pencil-beam Doppler scatterometer able to map ocean winds and currents globally. We review the principles behind the WaCM measurement and the requirements driving the mission. We then present an overview of the WaCM observatory and tie its capabilities to other OceanObs reviews and measurement approaches.

Description: ER was funded under NASA grant NNN13D462T. DC was funded under NASA grant NNX10AO98G. JF was funded under NASA grants NNX14AM71G and NNX16AH76G. DL was funded under NASA grant NNX14AM67G. DP-M was funded under NASA grant NNH13ZDA001N. RS was funded under NASA grant NNX14AM66G.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Szuts, Z. B., Bower, A. S., Donohue, K. A., Girton, J. B., Hummon, J. M., Katsumata, K., Lumpkin, R., Ortner, P. B., Phillips, H. E., Rossby, H. T., Shay, L. K., Sun, C., & Todd, R. E. The scientific and societal uses of global measurements of subsurface velocity. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 358, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00358.

Description: Ocean velocity defines ocean circulation, yet the available observations of subsurface velocity are under-utilized by society. The first step to address these concerns is to improve visibility of and access to existing measurements, which include acoustic sampling from ships, subsurface float drifts, and measurements from autonomous vehicles. While multiple programs provide data publicly, the present difficulty in finding, understanding, and using these data hinder broader use by managers, the public, and other scientists. Creating links from centralized national archives to project specific websites is an easy but important way to improve data discoverability and access. A further step is to archive data in centralized databases, which increases usage by providing a common framework for disparate measurements. This requires consistent data standards and processing protocols for all types of velocity measurements. Central dissemination will also simplify the creation of derived products tailored to end user goals. Eventually, this common framework will aid managers and scientists in identifying regions that need more sampling and in identifying methods to fulfill those demands. Existing technologies are capable of improving spatial and temporal sampling, such as using ships of opportunity or from autonomous platforms like gliders, profiling floats, or Lagrangian floats. Future technological advances are needed to fill sampling gaps and increase data coverage.

Description: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, United States, Grant Numbers 1356383 to ZBS, OCE 1756361 to ASB at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and 1536851 to KAD and HTR; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, United States, Ocean Observations and Monitoring Division and Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory to RL; Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd., to PBO; the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy National Environmental Science Programme and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes to HEP; and the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Grant V-487 to LS.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sloyan, B. M., Wilkin, J., Hill, K. L., Chidichimo, M. P., Cronin, M. F., Johannessen, J. A., Karstensen, J., Krug, M., Lee, T., Oka, E., Palmer, M. D., Rabe, B., Speich, S., von Schuckmann, K., Weller, R. A., & Yu, W. Evolving the physical global ocean observing system for research and application services through international coordination. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 449, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00449.

Description: Climate change and variability are major societal challenges, and the ocean is an integral part of this complex and variable system. Key to the understanding of the ocean’s role in the Earth’s climate system is the study of ocean and sea-ice physical processes, including its interactions with the atmosphere, cryosphere, land, and biosphere. These processes include those linked to ocean circulation; the storage and redistribution of heat, carbon, salt and other water properties; and air-sea exchanges of heat, momentum, freshwater, carbon, and other gasses. Measurements of ocean physics variables are fundamental to reliable earth prediction systems for a range of applications and users. In addition, knowledge of the physical environment is fundamental to growing understanding of the ocean’s biogeochemistry and biological/ecosystem variability and function. Through the progress from OceanObs’99 to OceanObs’09, the ocean observing system has evolved from a platform centric perspective to an integrated observing system. The challenge now is for the observing system to evolve to respond to an increasingly diverse end user group. The Ocean Observations Physics and Climate panel (OOPC), formed in 1995, has undertaken many activities that led to observing system-related agreements. Here, OOPC will explore the opportunities and challenges for the development of a fit-for-purpose, sustained and prioritized ocean observing system, focusing on physical variables that maximize support for fundamental research, climate monitoring, forecasting on different timescales, and society. OOPC recommendations are guided by the Framework for Ocean Observing which emphasizes identifying user requirements by considering time and space scales of the Essential Ocean Variables. This approach provides a framework for reviewing the adequacy of the observing system, looking for synergies in delivering an integrated observing system for a range of applications and focusing innovation in areas where existing technologies do not meet these requirements.

Description: BS received support from the Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research, a collaboration between the CSIRO and the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology and the Australian Government Department of the Environment and CSIRO through the Australian Climate Change Science Programme and by the National Environmental Science Program. JK was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the grant agreement no. 633211 (AtlantOS). MP was supported by the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme funded by the BEIS and Defra. SS was supported by the Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, and Ifremer funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the grant agreement no. 633211 (AtlantOS), CNES, and ANR grants.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Domingues, R., Kuwano-Yoshida, A., Chardon-Maldonado, P., Todd, R. E., Halliwell, G., Kim, H., Lin, I., Sato, K., Narazaki, T., Shay, L. K., Miles, T., Glenn, S., Zhang, J. A., Jayne, S. R., Centurioni, L., Le Henaff, M., Foltz, G. R., Bringas, F., Ali, M. M., DiMarco, S. F., Hosoda, S., Fukuoka, T., LaCour, B., Mehra, A., Sanabia, E. R., Gyakum, J. R., Dong, J., Knaff, J. A., & Goni, G. Ocean observations in support of studies and forecasts of tropical and extratropical cyclones. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 446, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00446.

Description: Over the past decade, measurements from the climate-oriented ocean observing system have been key to advancing the understanding of extreme weather events that originate and intensify over the ocean, such as tropical cyclones (TCs) and extratropical bomb cyclones (ECs). In order to foster further advancements to predict and better understand these extreme weather events, a need for a dedicated observing system component specifically to support studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs has been identified, but such a system has not yet been implemented. New technologies, pilot networks, targeted deployments of instruments, and state-of-the art coupled numerical models have enabled advances in research and forecast capabilities and illustrate a potential framework for future development. Here, applications and key results made possible by the different ocean observing efforts in support of studies and forecasts of TCs and ECs, as well as recent advances in observing technologies and strategies are reviewed. Then a vision and specific recommendations for the next decade are discussed.

Description: This study was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Numbers: JP17K19093, JP16K12591, and JP16H01846).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Weller, R. A., Baker, D. J., Glackin, M. M., Roberts, S. J., Schmitt, R. W., Twigg, E. S., & Vimont, D. J. The challenge of sustaining ocean observations. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):105, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00105.

Description: Sustained ocean observations benefit many users and societal goals but could benefit many more. Such information is critical for using ocean resources responsibly and sustainably as the ocean becomes increasingly important to society. The contributions of many nations cooperating to develop the Global Ocean Observing System has resulted in a strong base of global and regional ocean observing networks. However, enhancement of the existing observation system has been constrained by flat funding and limited cooperation among present and potential users. At the same time, a variety of actors are seeking new deployments in remote and newly ice-free regions and new observing capabilities, including biological and biogeochemical sensors. Can these new needs be met? In this paper, a vision for how to sustain ocean observing in the future is presented. A key evolution will be to grow the pool of users, engaging end users across society. Users with shared values need to be brought together with commitment to sustainable use of the ocean in the broadest sense. Present planning for sustained observations builds on the development of the Global Ocean Observing System which has primarily targeted increased scientific understanding of ocean processes and of the ocean's role in climate. We must build on that foundation to develop an Ocean Partnership for Sustained Observing that will incorporate the growing needs of a broad constituency of users beyond climate and make the case for new resources. To be most effective this new Partnership should incorporate the principles of a collective impact organization, enabling closer engagement with the private sector, philanthropies, governments, NGOs, and other groups. Steps toward achieving this new Partnership are outlined in this paper, with the intent of establishing it early in the UN Decade of Ocean Science.

Description: This activity was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Award Number WC133R-11-CQ-0048 and the National Academy of Sciences' Arthur L. Day Fund.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Terlouw, G. J., Knor, L. A. C. M., De Carlo, E. H., Drupp, P. S., Mackenzie, F. T., Li, Y. H., Sutton, A. J., Plueddemann, A. J., & Sabine, C. L. Hawaii coastal seawater CO2 network: A statistical evaluation of a decade of observations on tropical coral reefs. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):226, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00226.

Description: A statistical evaluation of nearly 10 years of high-resolution surface seawater carbon dioxide partial pressure (pCO2) time-series data collected from coastal moorings around O’ahu, Hawai’i suggest that these coral reef ecosystems were largely a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere between 2008 and 2016. The largest air-sea flux (1.24 ± 0.33 mol m−2 yr−1) and the largest variability in seawater pCO2 (950 μatm overall range or 8x the open ocean range) were observed at the CRIMP-2 site, near a shallow barrier coral reef system in Kaneohe Bay O’ahu. Two south shore sites, Kilo Nalu and Ala Wai, also exhibited about twice the surface water pCO2 variability of the open ocean, but had net fluxes that were much closer to the open ocean than the strongly calcifying system at CRIMP-2. All mooring sites showed the opposite seasonal cycle from the atmosphere, with the highest values in the summer and lower values in the winter. Average coastal diurnal variabilities ranged from a high of 192 μatm/day to a low of 32 μatm/day at the CRIMP-2 and Kilo Nalu sites, respectively, which is one to two orders of magnitude greater than observed at the open ocean site. Here we examine the modes and drivers of variability at the different coastal sites. Although daily to seasonal variations in pCO2 and air-sea CO2 fluxes are strongly affected by localized processes, basin-scale climate oscillations also affect the variability on interannual time scales.

Description: We acknowledge with gratitude the financial support of our research provided in part by a grant/cooperative agreement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Project R/IR-27, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, SOEST, under Institutional Grant No. NA14OAR4170071 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. Additional support was granted by the NOAA/Ocean Acidification Program (to EDC and AS) and the NOAA/Climate Program Office (AP), and the NOAA Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division, Climate Program Office (FundRef number 100007298) through agreement NA14OAR4320158 of the NOAA Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (AP). The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its subagencies. This is SOEST contribution number 10684, PMEL contribution number 4845, and Hawai’i Sea Grant contribution UNIHI-SEAGRANT-JC-15-30.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hein, C. J., Fallon, A. R., Rosen, P., Hoagland, P., Georgiou, I. Y., FitzGerald, D. M., Morris, M., Baker, S., Marino, G. B., & Fitzsimons, G. Shoreline dynamics along a developed river mouth barrier island: Multi-decadal cycles of erosion and event-driven mitigation. Frontiers in Earth Science, 7(103), (2019), doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00103.

Description: Human modifications in response to erosion have altered the natural transport of sediment to and across the coastal zone, thereby potentially exacerbating the impacts of future erosive events. Using a combination of historical shoreline-change mapping, sediment sampling, three-dimensional beach surveys, and hydrodynamic modeling of nearshore and inlet processes, this study explored the feedbacks between periodic coastal erosion patterns and associated mitigation responses, focusing on the open-ocean and inner-inlet beaches of Plum Island and the Merrimack River Inlet, Massachusetts, United States. Installation of river-mouth jetties in the early 20th century stabilized the inlet, allowing residential development in northern Plum Island, but triggering successive, multi-decadal cycles of alternating beach erosion and accretion along the inner-inlet and oceanfront beaches. At a finer spatial scale, the formation and southerly migration of an erosion “hotspot” (a setback of the high-water line by ∼100 m) occurs regularly (every 25–40 years) in response to the refraction of northeast storm waves around the ebb-tidal delta. Growth of the delta progressively shifts the focus of storm wave energy further down-shore, replenishing updrift segments with sand through the detachment, landward migration, and shoreline-welding of swash bars. Monitoring recent hotspot migration (2008–2014) demonstrates erosion (〉30,000 m3 of sand) along a 350-m section of beach in 6 months, followed by recovery, as the hotspot migrated further south. In response to these erosion cycles, local residents and governmental agencies attempted to protect shorefront properties with a variety of soft and hard structures. The latter have provided protection to some homes, but enhanced erosion elsewhere. Although the local community is in broad agreement about the need to plan for long-term coastal changes associated with sea-level rise and increased storminess, real-time responses have involved reactions mainly to short-term (〈5 years) erosion threats. A collective consensus for sustainable management of this area is lacking and the development of a longer-term adaptive perspective needed for proper planning has been elusive. With a deepening understanding of multi-decadal coastal dynamics, including a characterization of the relative contributions of both nature and humans, we can be more optimistic that adaptations beyond mere reactions to shoreline change are achievable.

Description: This work was supported financially by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Coastal SEES program (awards OCE 1325430 and OCE 1325366). PH also received partial support through the NSF Coupled Natural-Human Systems program (award AGS 1518503) and the Northeast Regional Sea Grant and Woods Hole Sea Grant Programs (NOAA Cooperative Agreement award NA14OAR4170074).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in [citation], doi:[doi]. Morrow, R., Fu, L., Ardhuin, F., Benkiran, M., Chapron, B., Cosme, E., d'Ovidio, F., Farrar, J. T., Gille, S. T., Lapeyre, G., Le Traon, P., Pascual, A., Ponte, A., Qiu, B., Rascle, N., Ubelmann, C., Wang, J., & Zaron, E. D. Global observations of fine-scale ocean surface topography with the surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) mission. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6(232),(2019), doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00232.

Description: The future international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Mission, planned for launch in 2021, will make high-resolution 2D observations of sea-surface height using SAR radar interferometric techniques. SWOT will map the global and coastal oceans up to 77.6∘ latitude every 21 days over a swath of 120 km (20 km nadir gap). Today’s 2D mapped altimeter data can resolve ocean scales of 150 km wavelength whereas the SWOT measurement will extend our 2D observations down to 15–30 km, depending on sea state. SWOT will offer new opportunities to observe the oceanic dynamic processes at scales that are important in the generation and dissipation of kinetic energy in the ocean, and that facilitate the exchange of energy between the ocean interior and the upper layer. The active vertical exchanges linked to these scales have impacts on the local and global budgets of heat and carbon, and on nutrients for biogeochemical cycles. This review paper highlights the issues being addressed by the SWOT science community to understand SWOT’s very precise sea surface height (SSH)/surface pressure observations, and it explores how SWOT data will be combined with other satellite and in situ data and models to better understand the upper ocean 4D circulation (x, y, z, t) over the next decade. SWOT will provide unprecedented 2D ocean SSH observations down to 15–30 km in wavelength, which encompasses the scales of “balanced” geostrophic eddy motions, high-frequency internal tides and internal waves. This presents both a challenge in reconstructing the 4D upper ocean circulation, or in the assimilation of SSH in models, but also an opportunity to have global observations of the 2D structure of these phenomena, and to learn more about their interactions. At these small scales, ocean dynamics evolve rapidly, and combining SWOT 2D SSH data with other satellite or in situ data with different space-time coverage is also a challenge. SWOT’s new technology will be a forerunner for the future altimetric observing system, and so advancing on these issues today will pave the way for our future.

Description: The authors were mostly funded through the NASA Physical Oceanography Program and the CNES/TOSCA programs for the SWOT and OSTST Science teams. AnP acknowledges support from the Spanish Research Agency and the European Regional Development Fund (Award No. CTM2016-78607-P). AuP acknowledges support from the ANR EQUINOx (ANR-17-CE01-0006-01).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Levin, L. A., Bett, B. J., Gates, A. R., Heimbach, P., Howe, B. M., Janssen, F., McCurdy, A., Ruhl, H. A., Snelgrove, P., Stocks, K., I., Bailey, D., Baumann-Pickering, S., Beaverson, C., Benfield, M. C., Booth, D. J., Carreiro-Silva, M., Colaco, A., Eble, M. C., Fowler, A. M., Gjerde, K. M., Jones, D. O. B., Katsumata, K., Kelley, D., Le Bris, N., Leonardi, A. P., Lejzerowicz, F., Macreadie, P., I., McLean, D., Meitz, F., Morato, T., Netburn, A., Pawlowski, J., Smith, C. R., Sun, S., Uchida, H., Vardaro, M. F., Venkatesan, R., & Weller, R. A. Global observing needs in the deep ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):241, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00241.

Description: The deep ocean below 200 m water depth is the least observed, but largest habitat on our planet by volume and area. Over 150 years of exploration has revealed that this dynamic system provides critical climate regulation, houses a wealth of energy, mineral, and biological resources, and represents a vast repository of biological diversity. A long history of deep-ocean exploration and observation led to the initial concept for the Deep-Ocean Observing Strategy (DOOS), under the auspices of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Here we discuss the scientific need for globally integrated deep-ocean observing, its status, and the key scientific questions and societal mandates driving observing requirements over the next decade. We consider the Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) needed to address deep-ocean challenges within the physical, biogeochemical, and biological/ecosystem sciences according to the Framework for Ocean Observing (FOO), and map these onto scientific questions. Opportunities for new and expanded synergies among deep-ocean stakeholders are discussed, including academic-industry partnerships with the oil and gas, mining, cable and fishing industries, the ocean exploration and mapping community, and biodiversity conservation initiatives. Future deep-ocean observing will benefit from the greater integration across traditional disciplines and sectors, achieved through demonstration projects and facilitated reuse and repurposing of existing deep-sea data efforts. We highlight examples of existing and emerging deep-sea methods and technologies, noting key challenges associated with data volume, preservation, standardization, and accessibility. Emerging technologies relevant to deep-ocean sustainability and the blue economy include novel genomics approaches, imaging technologies, and ultra-deep hydrographic measurements. Capacity building will be necessary to integrate capabilities into programs and projects at a global scale. Progress can be facilitated by Open Science and Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data principles and converge on agreed to data standards, practices, vocabularies, and registries. We envision expansion of the deep-ocean observing community to embrace the participation of academia, industry, NGOs, national governments, international governmental organizations, and the public at large in order to unlock critical knowledge contained in the deep ocean over coming decades, and to realize the mutual benefits of thoughtful deep-ocean observing for all elements of a sustainable ocean.

Description: Preparation of this manuscript was supported by NNX16AJ87A (NASA) Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Sub-Award No. SA16-33. AC was supported by FCT-Investigador contract (IF/00029/2014/CP1230/CT0002). LL was supported by a NASA subaward from the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. AG and HR were supported by Horizon 2020, EU Project “EMSO Link” grant ID 731036. AG, BB, DJ, and HR contributions were supported by the UK Natural Environment Research Council Climate Linked Atlantic Section Science project (NE/R015953/1). JP was funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 31003A_179125). TM was supported by Program Investigador FCT (IF/01194/2013), IFCT Exploratory Project (IF/01194/2013/CP1199/CT0002), H2020 Atlas project (GA 678760), and the H2020 MERCES project (GA 689518). This is PMEL contribution number 4965.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Benway, H. M., Lorenzoni, L., White, A. E., Fiedler, B., Levine, N. M., Nicholson, D. P., DeGrandpre, M. D., Sosik, H. M., Church, M. J., O'Brien, T. D., Leinen, M., Weller, R. A., Karl, D. M., Henson, S. A., & Letelier, R. M. Ocean time series observations of changing marine ecosystems: An era of integration, synthesis, and societal applications. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 393, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00393.

Description: Sustained ocean time series are critical for characterizing marine ecosystem shifts in a time of accelerating, and at times unpredictable, changes. They represent the only means to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic forcings, and are the best tools to explore causal links and implications for human communities that depend on ocean resources. Since the inception of sustained ocean observations, ocean time series have withstood many challenges, most prominently availability of uninterrupted funding and retention of trained personnel. This OceanObs’19 review article provides an overarching vision for sustained ocean time series observations for the next decade, focusing on the growing challenges of maintaining sustained ocean time series, including ship-based and autonomous coastal and open-ocean platforms, as well as remote sensing. In addition to increased diversification of funding sources to include the private sector, NGOs, and other groups, more effective engagement of stakeholders and other end-users will be critical to ensure the sustainability of ocean time series programs. Building a cohesive international time series network will require dedicated capacity to coordinate across observing programs and leverage existing infrastructure and platforms of opportunity. This review article outlines near-term observing priorities and technology needs; explores potential mechanisms to broaden ocean time series data applications and end-user communities; and describes current tools and future requirements for managing increasingly complex multi-platform data streams and developing synthesis products that support science and society. The actionable recommendations outlined herein ultimately form the basis for a robust, sustainable, fit-for-purpose time series network that will foster a predictive understanding of changing ocean systems for the benefit of society.

Description: This work was led by HB in the Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Project Office, which is supported by the NSF OCE (1558412) and the NASA (NNX17AB17G).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in O'Brien, F. J. M., Almaraz, M., Foster, M. A., Hill, A. F., Huber, D. P., King, E. K., Langford, H., Lowe, M., Mickan, B. S., Miller, V. S., Moore, O. W., Mathes, F., Gleeson, D., & Leopold, M. Soil salinity and pH drive soil bacterial community composition and diversity along a lateritic slope in the Avon River critical zone observatory, Western Australia. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, (2019): 1486, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01486.

Description: Soils are crucial in regulating ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling, and supporting plant growth. To a large extent, these functions are carried out by highly diverse and dynamic soil microbiomes that are in turn governed by numerous environmental factors including weathering profile and vegetation. In this study, we investigate geophysical and vegetation effects on the microbial communities of iron-rich lateritic soils in the highly weathered landscapes of Western Australia (WA). The study site was a lateritic hillslope in southwestern Australia, where gradual erosion of the duricrust has resulted in the exposure of the different weathering zones. High-throughput amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was used to investigate soil bacterial community diversity, composition and functioning. We predicted that shifts in the microbial community would reflect variations in certain edaphic properties associated with the different layers of the lateritic profile and vegetation cover. Our results supported this hypothesis, with electrical conductivity, pH and clay content having the strongest correlation with beta diversity, and many of the differentially abundant taxa belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. Soil water repellence, which is associated with Eucalyptus vegetation, also affected beta diversity. This enhanced understanding of the natural system could help to improve future crop management in WA since the physicochemical properties of the agricultural soils in this region are inherited from laterites via the weathering and pedogenesis processes.

Description: This work was funded by the WUN and the individual authors’ institutions. MA and MF were funded by the Critical Zone Observatory Program, NSF ICER 1445346.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sprintall, J., Gordon, A. L., Wijffels, S. E., Feng, M., Hu, S., Koch-Larrouy, A., Phillips, H., Nugroho, D., Napitu, A., Pujiana, K., Susanto, R. D., Sloyan, B., Yuan, D., Riama, N. F., Siswanto, S., Kuswardani, A., Arifin, Z., Wahyudi, A. J., Zhou, H., Nagai, T., Ansong, J. K., Bourdalle-Badie, R., Chanuts, J., Lyard, F., Arbic, B. K., Ramdhani, A., & Setiawan, A. Detecting change in the Indonesian Seas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):257, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00257.

Description: The Indonesian seas play a fundamental role in the coupled ocean and climate system with the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) providing the only tropical pathway connecting the global oceans. Pacific warm pool waters passing through the Indonesian seas are cooled and freshened by strong air-sea fluxes and mixing from internal tides to form a unique water mass that can be tracked across the Indian Ocean basin and beyond. The Indonesian seas lie at the climatological center of the atmospheric deep convection associated with the ascending branch of the Walker Circulation. Regional SST variations cause changes in the surface winds that can shift the center of atmospheric deep convection, subsequently altering the precipitation and ocean circulation patterns within the entire Indo-Pacific region. Recent multi-decadal changes in the wind and buoyancy forcing over the tropical Indo-Pacific have directly affected the vertical profile, strength, and the heat and freshwater transports of the ITF. These changes influence the large-scale sea level, SST, precipitation and wind patterns. Observing long-term changes in mass, heat and freshwater within the Indonesian seas is central to understanding the variability and predictability of the global coupled climate system. Although substantial progress has been made over the past decade in measuring and modeling the physical and biogeochemical variability within the Indonesian seas, large uncertainties remain. A comprehensive strategy is needed for measuring the temporal and spatial scales of variability that govern the various water mass transport streams of the ITF, its connection with the circulation and heat and freshwater inventories and associated air-sea fluxes of the regional and global oceans. This white paper puts forward the design of an observational array using multi-platforms combined with high-resolution models aimed at increasing our quantitative understanding of water mass transformation rates and advection within the Indonesian seas and their impacts on the air-sea climate system. Introduction

Description: JS acknowledges funding to support her effort by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number OCE-1736285 and NOAA’s Climate Program Office, Climate Variability and Predictability Program under Award Number NA17OAR4310257. SH was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41776018) and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, CAS (QYZDB-SSW-SYS023). HP acknowledges support from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme. HZ acknowledges support from National Science Foundation under Grant No. 41876009. RS was supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. OCE-07-25935; Office of Naval Research Grant No. N00014-08-01-0618 and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant No. 80NSSC18K0777. SW, MF, and BS were supported by Center for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research (CSHOR), which is a joint initiative between the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM), CSIRO, University of New South Wales and University of Tasmania.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Boas, A. B. V., Ardhuin, F., Ayet, A., Bourassa, M. A., Brandt, P., Chapron, B., Cornuelle, B. D., Farrar, J. T., Fewings, M. R., Fox-Kemper, B., Gille, S. T., Gommenginger, C., Heimbach, P., Hell, M. C., Li, Q., Mazloff, M. R., Merrifield, S. T., Mouche, A., Rio, M. H., Rodriguez, E., Shutler, J. D., Subramanian, A. C., Terrill, E. J., Tsamados, M., Ubelmann, C., & van Sebille, E. Integrated observations of global surface winds, currents, and waves: Requirements and challenges for the next decade. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 425, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00425.

Description: Ocean surface winds, currents, and waves play a crucial role in exchanges of momentum, energy, heat, freshwater, gases, and other tracers between the ocean, atmosphere, and ice. Despite surface waves being strongly coupled to the upper ocean circulation and the overlying atmosphere, efforts to improve ocean, atmospheric, and wave observations and models have evolved somewhat independently. From an observational point of view, community efforts to bridge this gap have led to proposals for satellite Doppler oceanography mission concepts, which could provide unprecedented measurements of absolute surface velocity and directional wave spectrum at global scales. This paper reviews the present state of observations of surface winds, currents, and waves, and it outlines observational gaps that limit our current understanding of coupled processes that happen at the air-sea-ice interface. A significant challenge for the coming decade of wind, current, and wave observations will come in combining and interpreting measurements from (a) wave-buoys and high-frequency radars in coastal regions, (b) surface drifters and wave-enabled drifters in the open-ocean, marginal ice zones, and wave-current interaction “hot-spots,” and (c) simultaneous measurements of absolute surface currents, ocean surface wind vector, and directional wave spectrum from Doppler satellite sensors.

Description: AV was funded by NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship award number 80NSSC17K0326. MB was funded by NOAA (FundRef number 100007298) through the NGI (grant number 18-NGI3-42). SG was funded by NASA grants NNX16AH67G, NNX14A078G, NNX17AH53G, and 80NSSC19K0059. MT acknowledges support from the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/R000654/1). MT, MR, JS, and EvS were partially funded by the SKIM Mission Science Study (SKIM-SciSoc) project ESA RFP 3-15456/18/NL/CT/gp. AA was supported by DGA grant No D0456JE075 and the French Brittany Regional Council. MF was supported by NASA Ocean Vector Winds Science Team Grant 80NSSC18K1611 and Jet Propulsion Laboratory/CalTech subcontract 1531731. FA, BC, and AM were supported by ESA under the Sea State CCI project, with additional support from CNES and ANR grants for ISblue (ANR-17-EURE-0015) and LabexMER (ANR-10-LABX-19). MZ was funded by NASA (grant number NNX16AH67G).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in [citation], doi:[doi]. Frajka-Williams, E., Ansorge, I. J., Baehr, J., Bryden, H. L., Chidichimo, M. P., Cunningham, S. A., Danabasoglu, G., Dong, S., Donohue, K. A., Elipot, S., Heimbach, P., Holliday, N. P., Hummels, R., Jackson, L. C., Karstensen, J., Lankhorst, M., Le Bras, I. A., Lozier, M. S., McDonagh, E. L., Meinen, C. S., Mercier, H., Moat, B., I., Perez, R. C., Piecuch, C. G., Rhein, M., Srokosz, M. A., Trenberth, K. E., Bacon, S., Forget, G., Goni, G., Kieke, D., Koelling, J., Lamont, T., McCarthy, G. D., Mertens, C., Send, U., Smeed, D. A., Speich, S., van den Berg, M., Volkov, D., & Wilson, C. Atlantic meridional overturning circulation: Observed transport and variability. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 260, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00260.

Description: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) extends from the Southern Ocean to the northern North Atlantic, transporting heat northwards throughout the South and North Atlantic, and sinking carbon and nutrients into the deep ocean. Climate models indicate that changes to the AMOC both herald and drive climate shifts. Intensive trans-basin AMOC observational systems have been put in place to continuously monitor meridional volume transport variability, and in some cases, heat, freshwater and carbon transport. These observational programs have been used to diagnose the magnitude and origins of transport variability, and to investigate impacts of variability on essential climate variables such as sea surface temperature, ocean heat content and coastal sea level. AMOC observing approaches vary between the different systems, ranging from trans-basin arrays (OSNAP, RAPID 26°N, 11°S, SAMBA 34.5°S) to arrays concentrating on western boundaries (e.g., RAPID WAVE, MOVE 16°N). In this paper, we outline the different approaches (aims, strengths and limitations) and summarize the key results to date. We also discuss alternate approaches for capturing AMOC variability including direct estimates (e.g., using sea level, bottom pressure, and hydrography from autonomous profiling floats), indirect estimates applying budgetary approaches, state estimates or ocean reanalyses, and proxies. Based on the existing observations and their results, and the potential of new observational and formal synthesis approaches, we make suggestions as to how to evaluate a comprehensive, future-proof observational network of the AMOC to deepen our understanding of the AMOC and its role in global climate.

Description: OSNAP is funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF, OCE-1259013), UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, projects: OSNAP NE/K010875/1, Extended Ellett Line and ACSIS); China's national key research and development projects (2016YFA0601803), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41521091 and U1606402) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (201424001); the German Ministry BMBF (RACE program); Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO: AZOMP). Additional support was received from the European Union 7th Framework Programme (FP7 2007–2013: NACLIM 308299) and the Horizon 2020 program (Blue-Action 727852, ATLAS 678760, AtlantOS 633211), and the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). RAPID and MOCHA moorings at 26°N are funded by NERC and NSF (OCE1332978). ABC fluxes is funded by the NERC RAPID-AMOC program (grant number: NE/M005046/1). Florida Current cable array is funded by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Meridional Overturning Variability Experiment (MOVE) was funded by the NOAA Climate Program Office-Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division, and initially by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). SAMBA 34.5°S is funded by the NOAA Climate Program Office-Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division (100007298), the French SAMOC project (11–ANR-56-004), from Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological development (CNPq: 302018/2014-0) and Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAESP: SAMOC-Br grants 2011/50552-4 and 2017/09659-6), the South African DST-NRF-SANAP program and South African Department of Environmental Affairs. The Line W project was funded by NSF (grant numbers: OCE-0726720, 1332667, and 1332834), with supplemental contributions from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)'s Ocean and Climate Change Institute. The Oleander Program is funded by NOAA and NSF (grant numbers: OCE1536517, OCE1536586, OCE1536851). The 47°N array NOAC is funded by the BMBF (grant numbers: 03F0443C, 03F0605C, 03F0561C, 03F0792A). The Senate Commission of Oceanography from the DFG granted shiptime and costs for travel, transports and consumables. JB's work is funded by DFG under Germany's Excellence Strategy (EXC 2037 Climate, Climatic Change, and Society, Project Number: 390683824), contribution to the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) of Universitat Hamburg. LCJ was funded by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS: 23-GLO-RAN LOT 3). MSL was supported by the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (NSF grant: OCE-1259013). GDM was supported by the Blue-Action project (European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, grant number: 727852). HM was supported by CNRS. RH acknowledges financial support by the BMBF as part of the cooperative projects RACE (03F0605B, 03F0824C). The National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is sponsored by NSF under Cooperative Agreement No. 1852977. JKO was supported by NASA Headquarters under the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program (Grant NNX16AO39H).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Pearlman, J., Bushnell, M., Coppola, L., Karstensen, J., Buttigieg, P. L., Pearlman, F., Simpsons, P., Barbier, M., Muller-Karger, F. E., Munoz-Mas, C., Pissierssens, P., Chandler, C., Hermes, J., Heslop, E., Jenkyns, R., Achterberg, E. P., Bensi, M., Bittig, H. C., Blandin, J., Bosch, J., Bourles, B., Bozzano, R., Buck, J. J. H., Burger, E. F., Cano, D., Cardin, V., Llorens, M. C., Cianca, A., Chen, H., Cusack, C., Delory, E., Garello, R., Giovanetti, G., Harscoat, V., Hartman, S., Heitsenrether, R., Jirka, S., Lara-Lopez, A., Lanteri, N., Leadbetter, A., Manzella, G., Maso, J., McCurdy, A., Moussat, E., Ntoumas, M., Pensieri, S., Petihakis, G., Pinardi, N., Pouliquen, S., Przeslawski, R., Roden, N. P., Silke, J., Tamburri, M. N., Tang, H., Tanhua, T., Telszewski, M., Testor, P., Thomas, J., Waldmann, C., & Whoriskey, F. Evolving and sustaining ocean best practices and standards for the next decade. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):277, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00277.

Description: The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing is the need to follow well-defined and reproducible methods across activities: from strategies for structuring observing systems, sensor deployment and usage, and the generation of data and information products, to ethical and governance aspects when executing ocean observing. To meet the urgent, planet-wide challenges we face, methods across all aspects of ocean observing should be broadly adopted by the ocean community and, where appropriate, should evolve into “Ocean Best Practices.” While many groups have created best practices, they are scattered across the Web or buried in local repositories and many have yet to be digitized. To reduce this fragmentation, we introduce a new open access, permanent, digital repository of best practices documentation (oceanbestpractices.org) that is part of the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS). The new OBPS provides an opportunity space for the centralized and coordinated improvement of ocean observing methods. The OBPS repository employs user-friendly software to significantly improve discovery and access to methods. The software includes advanced semantic technologies for search capabilities to enhance repository operations. In addition to the repository, the OBPS also includes a peer reviewed journal research topic, a forum for community discussion and a training activity for use of best practices. Together, these components serve to realize a core objective of the OBPS, which is to enable the ocean community to create superior methods for every activity in ocean observing from research to operations to applications that are agreed upon and broadly adopted across communities. Using selected ocean observing examples, we show how the OBPS supports this objective. This paper lays out a future vision of ocean best practices and how OBPS will contribute to improving ocean observing in the decade to come.

Description: The Ocean Best Practices project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement no: 633211 (AtlantOS), no. 730960 (SeaDataCloud) and no: 654310 (ODIP). Funding was also received from the NSF OceanObs Research Coordination Network under NSF grant 1143683. The Best Practices Handbook for fixed observatories has been funded by the FixO3 project financed by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, grant agreement no. 312463. The Harmful Algal Blooms Forecast Report was funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Operational Programme Project PRIMROSE (Grant Agreement No. EAPA_182/2016), and the AtlantOS project (see above). PB acknowledges funding from the Helmholtz Programme Frontiers in Arctic Marine Monitoring (FRAM) conducted by the Alfred-Wegener-Institut. JM acknowledges fundng from the WeObserve project under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement no. 776740). MTe acknowledges support from the US National Science Foundation grant OCE-1840868 to the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR, US) FM-K acknowledges support by NSF Grant 1728913 ‘OceanObS Research Coordination Network’. Funding was also provided by NASA grant NNX14AP62A ‘National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)’ funded under the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP RFP NOAA-NOS-IOOS-2014-2003803 in partnership between NOAA, BOEM, and NASA), and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Office.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Ponte, R. M., Carson, M., Cirano, M., Domingues, C. M., Jevrejeva, S., Marcos, M., Mitchum, G., van de Wal, R. S. W., Woodworth, P. L., Ablain, M., Ardhuin, F., Ballu, V., Becker, M., Benveniste, J., Birol, F., Bradshaw, E., Cazenave, A., De Mey-Fremaux, P., Durand, F., Ezer, T., Fu, L., Fukumori, I., Gordon, K., Gravelle, M., Griffies, S. M., Han, W., Hibbert, A., Hughes, C. W., Idier, D., Kourafalou, V. H., Little, C. M., Matthews, A., Melet, A., Merrifield, M., Meyssignac, B., Minobe, S., Penduff, T., Picot, N., Piecuch, C., Ray, R. D., Rickards, L., Santamaria-Gomez, A., Stammer, D., Staneva, J., Testut, L., Thompson, K., Thompson, P., Vignudelli, S., Williams, J., Williams, S. D. P., Woppelmann, G., Zanna, L., & Zhang, X. Towards comprehensive observing and modeling systems for monitoring and predicting regional to coastal sea level. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 437, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00437.

Description: A major challenge for managing impacts and implementing effective mitigation measures and adaptation strategies for coastal zones affected by future sea level (SL) rise is our limited capacity to predict SL change at the coast on relevant spatial and temporal scales. Predicting coastal SL requires the ability to monitor and simulate a multitude of physical processes affecting SL, from local effects of wind waves and river runoff to remote influences of the large-scale ocean circulation on the coast. Here we assess our current understanding of the causes of coastal SL variability on monthly to multi-decadal timescales, including geodetic, oceanographic and atmospheric aspects of the problem, and review available observing systems informing on coastal SL. We also review the ability of existing models and data assimilation systems to estimate coastal SL variations and of atmosphere-ocean global coupled models and related regional downscaling efforts to project future SL changes. We discuss (1) observational gaps and uncertainties, and priorities for the development of an optimal and integrated coastal SL observing system, (2) strategies for advancing model capabilities in forecasting short-term processes and projecting long-term changes affecting coastal SL, and (3) possible future developments of sea level services enabling better connection of scientists and user communities and facilitating assessment and decision making for adaptation to future coastal SL change.

Description: RP was funded by NASA grant NNH16CT00C. CD was supported by the Australian Research Council (FT130101532 and DP 160103130), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 148, funded by national SCOR committees and a grant to SCOR from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1546580), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO/International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IOC/IODE) IQuOD Steering Group. SJ was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council under Grant Agreement No. NE/P01517/1 and by the EPSRC NEWTON Fund Sustainable Deltas Programme, Grant Number EP/R024537/1. RvdW received funding from NWO, Grant 866.13.001. WH was supported by NASA (NNX17AI63G and NNX17AH25G). CL was supported by NASA Grant NNH16CT01C. This work is a contribution to the PIRATE project funded by CNES (to TP). PT was supported by the NOAA Research Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program through its sponsorship of UHSLC (NA16NMF4320058). JS was supported by EU contract 730030 (call H2020-EO-2016, “CEASELESS”). JW was supported by EU Horizon 2020 Grant 633211, Atlantos.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Stammer, D., Bracco, A., AchutaRao, K., Beal, L., Bindoff, N. L., Braconnot, P., Cai, W., Chen, D., Collins, M., Danabasoglu, G., Dewitte, B., Farneti, R., Fox-Kemper, B., Fyfe, J., Griffies, S. M., Jayne, S. R., Lazar, A., Lengaigne, M., Lin, X., Marsland, S., Minobe, S., Monteiro, P. M. S., Robinson, W., Roxy, M. K., Rykaczewski, R. R., Speich, S., Smith, I. J., Solomon, A., Storto, A., Takahashi, K., Toniazzo, T., & Vialard, J. Ocean climate observing requirements in support of climate research and climate information. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 444, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00444.

Description: Natural variability and change of the Earth’s climate have significant global societal impacts. With its large heat and carbon capacity and relatively slow dynamics, the ocean plays an integral role in climate, and provides an important source of predictability at seasonal and longer timescales. In addition, the ocean provides the slowly evolving lower boundary to the atmosphere, driving, and modifying atmospheric weather. Understanding and monitoring ocean climate variability and change, to constrain and initialize models as well as identify model biases for improved climate hindcasting and prediction, requires a scale-sensitive, and long-term observing system. A climate observing system has requirements that significantly differ from, and sometimes are orthogonal to, those of other applications. In general terms, they can be summarized by the simultaneous need for both large spatial and long temporal coverage, and by the accuracy and stability required for detecting the local climate signals. This paper reviews the requirements of a climate observing system in terms of space and time scales, and revisits the question of which parameters such a system should encompass to meet future strategic goals of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP), with emphasis on ocean and sea-ice covered areas. It considers global as well as regional aspects that should be accounted for in designing observing systems in individual basins. Furthermore, the paper discusses which data-driven products are required to meet WCRP research and modeling needs, and ways to obtain them through data synthesis and assimilation approaches. Finally, it addresses the need for scientific capacity building and international collaboration in support of the collection of high-quality measurements over the large spatial scales and long time-scales required for climate research, bridging the scientific rational to the required resources for implementation.

Description: This work was partly supported by the DFG funded excellence center CliSAP of the Universituat Hamburg (DS). AB was supported by the National Science Foundation through award NSF-1658174 and by the NOAA through award NA16OAR4310173. SM was supported by the Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub of the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Subramanian, A. C., Balmaseda, M. A., Centurioni, L., Chattopadhyay, R., Cornuelle, B. D., DeMott, C., Flatau, M., Fujii, Y., Giglio, D., Gille, S. T., Hamill, T. M., Hendon, H., Hoteit, I., Kumar, A., Lee, J., Lucas, A. J., Mahadevan, A., Matsueda, M., Nam, S., Paturi, S., Penny, S. G., Rydbeck, A., Sun, R., Takaya, Y., Tandon, A., Todd, R. E., Vitart, F., Yuan, D., & Zhang, C. Ocean observations to improve our understanding, modeling, and forecasting of subseasonal-to-seasonal variability. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 427, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00427.

Description: Subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecasts have the potential to provide advance information about weather and climate events. The high heat capacity of water means that the subsurface ocean stores and re-releases heat (and other properties) and is an important source of information for S2S forecasts. However, the subsurface ocean is challenging to observe, because it cannot be measured by satellite. Subsurface ocean observing systems relevant for understanding, modeling, and forecasting on S2S timescales will continue to evolve with the improvement in technological capabilities. The community must focus on designing and implementing low-cost, high-value surface and subsurface ocean observations, and developing forecasting system capable of extracting their observation potential in forecast applications. S2S forecasts will benefit significantly from higher spatio-temporal resolution data in regions that are sources of predictability on these timescales (coastal, tropical, and polar regions). While ENSO has been a driving force for the design of the current observing system, the subseasonal time scales present new observational requirements. Advanced observation technologies such as autonomous surface and subsurface profiling devices as well as satellites that observe the ocean-atmosphere interface simultaneously can lead to breakthroughs in coupled data assimilation (CDA) and coupled initialization for S2S forecasts. These observational platforms should also be tested and evaluated in ocean observation sensitivity experiments with current and future generation CDA and S2S prediction systems. Investments in the new ocean observations as well as model and DA system developments can lead to substantial returns on cost savings from disaster mitigation as well as socio–economic decisions that use S2S forecast information.

Description: AS was funded by NOAA Climate Variability and Prediction Program (NA14OAR4310276) and the NSF Earth System Modeling Program (OCE1419306). CD was funded by NA16OAR4310094. SG and DG were funded by NASA awards NNX14AO78G and 80NSSC19K0059. DY was supported by NSFC (91858204, 41720104008, and 41421005).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Seyler, L. M., Tuorto, S., McGuinness, L. R., Gong, D., & Kerkhof, L. J. Bacterial and archaeal specific-predation in the North Atlantic Basin. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 555, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00555.

Description: Stable isotope probing (SIP) was used to track prokaryotic and eukaryotic carbon uptake along a meridional transect (Long. 52°W) in the North Atlantic to assess if 13C-resource partitioning between bacteria and archaea and 13C-labeled eukaryotic predators could be detected. One-liter SIP microcosms were amended with 13C-acetate or 13C-urea and incubated for 48 h. Our data indicated archaea often outcompeted bacteria for 13C-urea while both archaea and bacteria could incorporate 13C-acetate. This 13C label could also be tracked into eukaryotic microbes. The largest number of 13C-labeled eukaryotic OTUs, and the greatest percentage of eukaryotic 13C signal, were observed in conjunction with both archaeal and bacterial 13C incorporation, suggesting that most eukaryotic predators do not distinguish between archaeal and bacterial prey. However, other 13C-eukaryotic OTUs were exclusively associated with either 13C-archaeal or 13C-bacterial OTUs. These archaeal-specific and bacterial-specific 13C-eukaryotic OTUs were related to known bactivorous predators including Ancyromonas, Amastigomonas, Cafeteria, and Caecitellus. Our SIP findings suggest both resource partitioning between bacteria and TACK (Thaumarchaeota, Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota, and Korarchaeota) archaea and selective predation by eukaryotic predators. Determining the equalizing mechanisms for co-existence in the marine environment can help map predator/prey interactions to better estimate carbon flow in the deep ocean.

Description: This research was made possible through the support of the U.S Global Ocean Carbon and Repeat Hydrography Program and NSF Ocean Technology and Interdisciplinary Program grant (#1131022) to LK.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Roemmich, D., Alford, M. H., Claustre, H., Johnson, K., King, B., Moum, J., Oke, P., Owens, W. B., Pouliquen, S., Purkey, S., Scanderbeg, M., Suga, T., Wijffels, S., Zilberman, N., Bakker, D., Baringer, M., Belbeoch, M., Bittig, H. C., Boss, E., Calil, P., Carse, F., Carval, T., Chai, F., Conchubhair, D. O., d'Ortenzio, F., Dall'Olmo, G., Desbruyeres, D., Fennel, K., Fer, I., Ferrari, R., Forget, G., Freeland, H., Fujiki, T., Gehlen, M., Greenan, B., Hallberg, R., Hibiya, T., Hosoda, S., Jayne, S., Jochum, M., Johnson, G. C., Kang, K., Kolodziejczyk, N., Kortzinger, A., Le Traon, P., Lenn, Y., Maze, G., Mork, K. A., Morris, T., Nagai, T., Nash, J., Garabato, A. N., Olsen, A., Pattabhi, R. R., Prakash, S., Riser, S., Schmechtig, C., Schmid, C., Shroyer, E., Sterl, A., Sutton, P., Talley, L., Tanhua, T., Thierry, V., Thomalla, S., Toole, J., Troisi, A., Trull, T. W., Turton, J., Velez-Belchi, P. J., Walczowski, W., Wang, H., Wanninkhof, R., Waterhouse, A. F., Waterman, S., Watson, A., Wilson, C., Wong, A. P. S., Xu, J., & Yasuda, I. On the future of Argo: A global, full-depth, multi-disciplinary array. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 439, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00439.

Description: The Argo Program has been implemented and sustained for almost two decades, as a global array of about 4000 profiling floats. Argo provides continuous observations of ocean temperature and salinity versus pressure, from the sea surface to 2000 dbar. The successful installation of the Argo array and its innovative data management system arose opportunistically from the combination of great scientific need and technological innovation. Through the data system, Argo provides fundamental physical observations with broad societally-valuable applications, built on the cost-efficient and robust technologies of autonomous profiling floats. Following recent advances in platform and sensor technologies, even greater opportunity exists now than 20 years ago to (i) improve Argo’s global coverage and value beyond the original design, (ii) extend Argo to span the full ocean depth, (iii) add biogeochemical sensors for improved understanding of oceanic cycles of carbon, nutrients, and ecosystems, and (iv) consider experimental sensors that might be included in the future, for example to document the spatial and temporal patterns of ocean mixing. For Core Argo and each of these enhancements, the past, present, and future progression along a path from experimental deployments to regional pilot arrays to global implementation is described. The objective is to create a fully global, top-to-bottom, dynamically complete, and multidisciplinary Argo Program that will integrate seamlessly with satellite and with other in situ elements of the Global Ocean Observing System (Legler et al., 2015). The integrated system will deliver operational reanalysis and forecasting capability, and assessment of the state and variability of the climate system with respect to physical, biogeochemical, and ecosystems parameters. It will enable basic research of unprecedented breadth and magnitude, and a wealth of ocean-education and outreach opportunities.

Description: DR, MS, and NZ were supported by the US Argo Program through the NOAA Grant NA15OAR4320071 (CIMEC). WO, SJ, and SWi were supported by the US Argo Program through the NOAA Grant NA14OAR4320158 (CINAR). EuroArgo scientists were supported by the two grants: (1) AtlantOS funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Grant Agreement No. 633211 and (2) Monitoring the Oceans and Climate Change with Argo (MOCCA) Co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Project No. SI2.709624. This manuscript represents a contribution to the following research projects for HC, CaS, and FD: remOcean (funded by the European Research Council, grant 246777), NAOS (funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche in the frame of the French “Equipement d’avenir” program, grant ANR J11R107-F), AtlantOS (funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, grant 2014-633211), and the BGC-Argo project funded by the CNES. DB was funded by the EU RINGO project (730944 H2020-INFRADEV-2016-1). RF was supported by the AGS-1835576. GCJ was supported by the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S., and the Department of Commerce and NOAA Research. LT was funded under the SOCCOM Grant No. NSF PLR-1425989. VT’s contribution was supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR) through the EQUIPEX NAOS (Novel Argo Observing System) under the reference ANR-10-EQPX-40 and by the European H2020 Research and Innovation Programme through the AtlantOS project under the reference 633211. WW was supported by the Argo Poland program through the Ministry of Sciences and Higher Education Grant No. DIR/WK/2016/12. AmW was funded by the NSF-OCE1434722. K-RK is funded by the National Institute of Meteorological Sciences’ Research and Development Program “Development of Marine Meteorology Monitoring and Next-generation Ocean Forecasting System” under the grant KMA2018-00421. CSchmid is funded by NOAA/AOML and the US Argo Program through NOAA/OOMD. MBa is funded by NOAA/AOML.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Capotondi, A., Jacox, M., Bowler, C., Kavanaugh, M., Lehodey, P., Barrie, D., Brodie, S., Chaffron, S., Cheng, W., Dias, D. F., Eveillard, D., Guidi, L., Iudicone, D., Lovenduski, N. S., Nye, J. A., Ortiz, I., Pirhalla, D., Buil, M. P., Saba, V., Sheridan, S., Siedlecki, S., Subramanian, A., de Vargas, C., Di Lorenzo, E., Doney, S. C., Hermann, A. J., Joyce, T., Merrifield, M., Miller, A. J., Not, F., & Pesant, S. Observational needs supporting marine ecosystems modeling and forecasting: from the global ocean to regional and coastal systems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 623, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00623.

Description: Many coastal areas host rich marine ecosystems and are also centers of economic activities, including fishing, shipping and recreation. Due to the socioeconomic and ecological importance of these areas, predicting relevant indicators of the ecosystem state on sub-seasonal to interannual timescales is gaining increasing attention. Depending on the application, forecasts may be sought for variables and indicators spanning physics (e.g., sea level, temperature, currents), chemistry (e.g., nutrients, oxygen, pH), and biology (from viruses to top predators). Many components of the marine ecosystem are known to be influenced by leading modes of climate variability, which provide a physical basis for predictability. However, prediction capabilities remain limited by the lack of a clear understanding of the physical and biological processes involved, as well as by insufficient observations for forecast initialization and verification. The situation is further complicated by the influence of climate change on ocean conditions along coastal areas, including sea level rise, increased stratification, and shoaling of oxygen minimum zones. Observations are thus vital to all aspects of marine forecasting: statistical and/or dynamical model development, forecast initialization, and forecast validation, each of which has different observational requirements, which may be also specific to the study region. Here, we use examples from United States (U.S.) coastal applications to identify and describe the key requirements for an observational network that is needed to facilitate improved process understanding, as well as for sustaining operational ecosystem forecasting. We also describe new holistic observational approaches, e.g., approaches based on acoustics, inspired by Tara Oceans or by landscape ecology, which have the potential to support and expand ecosystem modeling and forecasting activities by bridging global and local observations.

Description: This study was supported by the NOAA’s Climate Program Office’s Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) Program through grants NA17OAR4310106, NA17OAR4310104, NA17OAR4310108, NA17OAR4310109, NA17OAR4310110, NA17OAR4310111, NA17OAR4310112, and NA17OAR4310113. This manuscript is a product of the NOAA/MAPP Marine Prediction Task Force. The Tara Oceans consortium acknowledges support from the CNRS Research Federation FR2022 Global Ocean Systems Ecology and Evolution, and OCEANOMICS (grant agreement ‘Investissement d’Avenir’ ANR-11-BTBR-0008). This is article number 95 of the Tara Oceans consortium. MK and SD acknowledge support from NASA grant NNX14AP62A “National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)” funded under the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP RFP NOAA-NOS-IOOS-2014-2003803 in partnership between NOAA, BOEM, and NASA), and the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Office. WC, IO, and AH acknowledge partial support from the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA15OAR4320063, Contribution No. 2019-1029. This study received support from the European H2020 International Cooperation project MESOPP (Mesopelagic Southern Ocean Prey and Predators), grant agreement no. 692173.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Testor, P., de Young, B., Rudnick, D. L., Glenn, S., Hayes, D., Lee, C. M., Pattiaratchi, C., Hill, K., Heslop, E., Turpin, V., Alenius, P., Barrera, C., Barth, J. A., Beaird, N., Becu, G., Bosse, A., Bourrin, F., Brearley, J. A., Chao, Y., Chen, S., Chiggiato, J., Coppola, L., Crout, R., Cummings, J., Curry, B., Curry, R., Davis, R., Desai, K., DiMarco, S., Edwards, C., Fielding, S., Fer, I., Frajka-Williams, E., Gildor, H., Goni, G., Gutierrez, D., Haugan, P., Hebert, D., Heiderich, J., Henson, S., Heywood, K., Hogan, P., Houpert, L., Huh, S., Inall, M. E., Ishii, M., Ito, S., Itoh, S., Jan, S., Kaiser, J., Karstensen, J., Kirkpatrick, B., Klymak, J., Kohut, J., Krahmann, G., Krug, M., McClatchie, S., Marin, F., Mauri, E., Mehra, A., Meredith, M. P., Meunier, T., Miles, T., Morell, J. M., Mortier, L., Nicholson, S., O'Callaghan, J., O'Conchubhair, D., Oke, P., Pallas-Sanz, E., Palmer, M., Park, J., Perivoliotis, L., Poulain, P., Perry, R., Queste, B., Rainville, L., Rehm, E., Roughan, M., Rome, N., Ross, T., Ruiz, S., Saba, G., Schaeffer, A., Schonau, M., Schroeder, K., Shimizu, Y., Sloyan, B. M., Smeed, D., Snowden, D., Song, Y., Swart, S., Tenreiro, M., Thompson, A., Tintore, J., Todd, R. E., Toro, C., Venables, H., Wagawa, T., Waterman, S., Watlington, R. A., & Wilson, D. OceanGliders: A component of the integrated GOOS. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 422, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00422.

Description: The OceanGliders program started in 2016 to support active coordination and enhancement of global glider activity. OceanGliders contributes to the international efforts of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) for Climate, Ocean Health, and Operational Services. It brings together marine scientists and engineers operating gliders around the world: (1) to observe the long-term physical, biogeochemical, and biological ocean processes and phenomena that are relevant for societal applications; and, (2) to contribute to the GOOS through real-time and delayed mode data dissemination. The OceanGliders program is distributed across national and regional observing systems and significantly contributes to integrated, multi-scale and multi-platform sampling strategies. OceanGliders shares best practices, requirements, and scientific knowledge needed for glider operations, data collection and analysis. It also monitors global glider activity and supports the dissemination of glider data through regional and global databases, in real-time and delayed modes, facilitating data access to the wider community. OceanGliders currently supports national, regional and global initiatives to maintain and expand the capabilities and application of gliders to meet key global challenges such as improved measurement of ocean boundary currents, water transformation and storm forecast.

Description: The editorial team would like to recognize the support of the global glider community to this paper. Our requests for data and information were met with enthusiasm and welcome contributions from around the globe, clearly demonstrating to us a point made in this paper that there are many active and dedicated teams of glider operators and users. We should also acknowledge the support that OceanGliders has received from the WMO/IOC JCOMM-OCG and JCOMMOPS that have allowed this program to develop, encouraging us to articulate a vision for the role of gliders in the GOOS. We acknowledge support from the EU Horizon 2020 AtlantOS project funded under grant agreement No. 633211 and gratefully acknowledge the many agencies and programs that have supported underwater gliders: AlterEco, ANR, CFI, CIGOM, CLASS Ellet Array, CNES, CNRS/INSU, CONACyT, CSIRO, DEFRA, DFG/SFB-754, DFO, DGA, DSTL, ERC, FCO, FP7, and H2020 Europen Commission, HIMIOFoTS, Ifremer, IMOS, IMS, IOOS, IPEV, IRD, Israel MOST, JSPS, MEOPAR, NASA, NAVOCEANO (Navy), NERC, NFR, NJDEP, NOAA, NRC, NRL, NSF, NSERC, ONR, OSNAP, Taiwan MOST, SANAP-NRF, SENER, SIMS, Shell Exploration and Production Company, Sorbonne Université, SSB, UKRI, UNSW, Vettleson, Wallenberg Academy Fellowship, and WWF.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Tanhua, T., Pouliquen, S., Hausman, J., O'Brien, K., Bricher, P., de Bruin, T., Buck, J. J. H., Burger, E. F., Carval, T., Casey, K. S., Diggs, S., Giorgetti, A., Glaves, H., Harscoat, V., Kinkade, D., Muelbert, J. H., Novellino, A., Pfeil, B., Pulsifer, P. L., Van de Putte, A., Robinson, E., Schaap, D., Smirnov, A., Smith, N., Snowden, D., Spears, T., Stall, S., Tacoma, M., Thijsse, P., Tronstad, S., Vandenberghe, T., Wengren, M., Wyborn, L., & Zhao, Z. Ocean FAIR data services. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 440, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00440.

Description: Well-founded data management systems are of vital importance for ocean observing systems as they ensure that essential data are not only collected but also retained and made accessible for analysis and application by current and future users. Effective data management requires collaboration across activities including observations, metadata and data assembly, quality assurance and control (QA/QC), and data publication that enables local and interoperable discovery and access and secures archiving that guarantees long-term preservation. To achieve this, data should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). Here, we outline how these principles apply to ocean data and illustrate them with a few examples. In recent decades, ocean data managers, in close collaboration with international organizations, have played an active role in the improvement of environmental data standardization, accessibility, and interoperability through different projects, enhancing access to observation data at all stages of the data life cycle and fostering the development of integrated services targeted to research, regulatory, and operational users. As ocean observing systems evolve and an increasing number of autonomous platforms and sensors are deployed, the volume and variety of data increase dramatically. For instance, there are more than 70 data catalogs that contain metadata records for the polar oceans, a situation that makes comprehensive data discovery beyond the capacity of most researchers. To better serve research, operational, and commercial users, more efficient turnaround of quality data in known formats and made available through Web services is necessary. In particular, automation of data workflows will be critical to reduce friction throughout the data value chain. Adhering to the FAIR principles with free, timely, and unrestricted access to ocean observation data is beneficial for the originators, has obvious benefits for users, and is an essential foundation for the development of new services made possible with big data technologies.

Description: We thank the funding agencies and the data management projects that have made this work possible through dedicated funding for the data management activities and improvements. TT and JB acknowledge support from the EU Horizon 2020 project AtlantOS (grant agreement 633211). JM acknowledges support from the Integrated Oceanography and Multiple Uses of the Continental Shelf and the Adjacent Ocean Integrated Center of Oceanography (INCT-Mar COI, CNPq, Proc. 565062/2010-7). DS acknowledges support from the H2020 project SeaDataCloud (grant agreement 730960). SP acknowledges support from the EU Horizon 2020 project ENVRIplus (grant agreement 654182). AN acknowledges support from the EMODnet Physics (grant number EASME/EMFF/2016/1.3.1.2-Lot3/SI2.749411). HG acknowledges funding from the EU H2020 Ocean Data Interoperability Platform (ODIP) project (Grant No: 654310). JH acknowledges that funding came from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency as managed by the California Institute of Technology under task number 80NM0018F0848. AVdP acknowledges support from Belspo in the framework the EU Lifewatch ERIC (grant agreement FR/36/AN3). KO’B acknowledges that his publication is partially funded by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA15OAR4320063, Contribution No. 2018-0175.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in [citation], doi:[doi]. Gommenginger, C., Chapron, B., Hogg, A., Buckingham, C., Fox-Kemper, B., Eriksson, L., Soulat, F., Ubelmann, C., Ocampo-Torres, F., Nardelli, B. B., Griffin, D., Lopez-Dekker, P., Knudsen, P., Andersen, O., Stenseng, L., Stapleton, N., Perrie, W., Violante-Carvalho, N., Schulz-Stellenfleth, J., Woolf, D., Isern-Fontanet, J., Ardhuin, F., Klein, P., Mouche, A., Pascual, A., Capet, X., Hauser, D., Stoffelen, A., Morrow, R., Aouf, L., Breivik, O., Fu, L., Johannessen, J. A., Aksenov, Y., Bricheno, L., Hirschi, J., Martin, A. C. H., Martin, A. P., Nurser, G., Polton, J., Wolf, J., Johnsens, H., Soloviev, A., Jacobs, G. A., Collard, F., Groom, S., Kudryavtsev, V., Wilkin, J., Navarro, V., Babanin, A., Martin, M., Siddorn, J., Saulter, A., Rippeth, T., Emery, B., Maximenko, N., Romeiser, R., Graber, H., Azcarate, A. A., Hughes, C. W., Vandemark, D., da Silva, J., Van Leeuwen, P. J., Naveira-Garabato, A., Gemmrich, J., Mahadevan, A., Marquez, J., Munro, Y., Doody, S., & Burbidge, G. SEASTAR: A mission to study ocean submesoscale dynamics and small-scale atmosphere-ocean processes in coastal, shelf and polar seas. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):457, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00457.

Description: High-resolution satellite images of ocean color and sea surface temperature reveal an abundance of ocean fronts, vortices and filaments at scales below 10 km but measurements of ocean surface dynamics at these scales are rare. There is increasing recognition of the role played by small scale ocean processes in ocean-atmosphere coupling, upper-ocean mixing and ocean vertical transports, with advanced numerical models and in situ observations highlighting fundamental changes in dynamics when scales reach 1 km. Numerous scientific publications highlight the global impact of small oceanic scales on marine ecosystems, operational forecasts and long-term climate projections through strong ageostrophic circulations, large vertical ocean velocities and mixed layer re-stratification. Small-scale processes particularly dominate in coastal, shelf and polar seas where they mediate important exchanges between land, ocean, atmosphere and the cryosphere, e.g., freshwater, pollutants. As numerical models continue to evolve toward finer spatial resolution and increasingly complex coupled atmosphere-wave-ice-ocean systems, modern observing capability lags behind, unable to deliver the high-resolution synoptic measurements of total currents, wind vectors and waves needed to advance understanding, develop better parameterizations and improve model validations, forecasts and projections. SEASTAR is a satellite mission concept that proposes to directly address this critical observational gap with synoptic two-dimensional imaging of total ocean surface current vectors and wind vectors at 1 km resolution and coincident directional wave spectra. Based on major recent advances in squinted along-track Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry, SEASTAR is an innovative, mature concept with unique demonstrated capabilities, seeking to proceed toward spaceborne implementation within Europe and beyond.

Description: CG and AM received funding from the United Kingdom Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation SEASTAR+ project (Contract No. RP10G0435A02). PVL was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) CUNDA project 694509 under the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Vance, T. C., Wengren, M., Burger, E., Hernandez, D., Kearns, T., Medina-Lopez, E., Merati, N., O'Brien, K., O'Neil, J., Potemrag, J. T., Signell, R. P., & Wilcox, K. From the oceans to the cloud: Opportunities and challenges for data, models, computation and workflows. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6(211), (2019), doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00211.

Description: Advances in ocean observations and models mean increasing flows of data. Integrating observations between disciplines over spatial scales from regional to global presents challenges. Running ocean models and managing the results is computationally demanding. The rise of cloud computing presents an opportunity to rethink traditional approaches. This includes developing shared data processing workflows utilizing common, adaptable software to handle data ingest and storage, and an associated framework to manage and execute downstream modeling. Working in the cloud presents challenges: migration of legacy technologies and processes, cloud-to-cloud interoperability, and the translation of legislative and bureaucratic requirements for “on-premises” systems to the cloud. To respond to the scientific and societal needs of a fit-for-purpose ocean observing system, and to maximize the benefits of more integrated observing, research on utilizing cloud infrastructures for sharing data and models is underway. Cloud platforms and the services/APIs they provide offer new ways for scientists to observe and predict the ocean’s state. High-performance mass storage of observational data, coupled with on-demand computing to run model simulations in close proximity to the data, tools to manage workflows, and a framework to share and collaborate, enables a more flexible and adaptable observation and prediction computing architecture. Model outputs are stored in the cloud and researchers either download subsets for their interest/area or feed them into their own simulations without leaving the cloud. Expanded storage and computing capabilities make it easier to create, analyze, and distribute products derived from long-term datasets. In this paper, we provide an introduction to cloud computing, describe current uses of the cloud for management and analysis of observational data and model results, and describe workflows for running models and streaming observational data. We discuss topics that must be considered when moving to the cloud: costs, security, and organizational limitations on cloud use. Future uses of the cloud via computational sandboxes and the practicalities and considerations of using the cloud to archive data are explored. We also consider the ways in which the human elements of ocean observations are changing – the rise of a generation of researchers whose observations are likely to be made remotely rather than hands on – and how their expectations and needs drive research towards the cloud. In conclusion, visions of a future where cloud computing is ubiquitous are discussed.

Description: This is PMEL contribution 4873.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Gewirtzman, J., Tang, J., Melillo, J. M., Werner, W. J., Kurtz, A. C., Fulweiler, R. W., & Carey, J. C. Soil warming accelerates biogeochemical silica cycling in a temperate forest. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, (2019): 1097, doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01097.

Description: Biological cycling of silica plays an important role in terrestrial primary production. Soil warming stemming from climate change can alter the cycling of elements, such as carbon and nitrogen, in forested ecosystems. However, the effects of soil warming on the biogeochemical cycle of silica in forested ecosystems remain unexplored. Here we examine long-term forest silica cycling under ambient and warmed conditions over a 15-year period of experimental soil warming at Harvard Forest (Petersham, MA). Specifically, we measured silica concentrations in organic and mineral soils, and in the foliage and litter of two dominant species (Acer rubrum and Quercus rubra), in a large (30 × 30 m) heated plot and an adjacent control plot (30 × 30 m). In 2016, we also examined effects of heating on dissolved silica in the soil solution, and conducted a litter decomposition experiment using four tree species (Acer rubrum, Quercus rubra, Betula lenta, Tsuga canadensis) to examine effects of warming on the release of biogenic silica (BSi) from plants to soils. We find that tree foliage maintained constant silica concentrations in the control and warmed plots, which, coupled with productivity enhancements under warming, led to an increase in total plant silica uptake. We also find that warming drove an acceleration in the release of silica from decaying litter in three of the four species we examined, and a substantial increase in the silica dissolved in soil solution. However, we observe no changes in soil BSi stocks with warming. Together, our data indicate that warming increases the magnitude of silica uptake by vegetation and accelerates the internal cycling of silica in in temperate forests, with possible, and yet unresolved, effects on the delivery of silica from terrestrial to marine systems.

Description: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF PLR-1417763 to JT), the Geological Society of America (Stephen G. Pollock Undergraduate Research Grant to JG), the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Sample analysis and Fulweiler’s involvement were supported by Boston University and a Bullard Fellowship from Harvard University. The soil warming experiment was supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB-0620443) and Department of Energy (DE-FC02-06-ER641577 and DE-SC0005421).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Newman, L., Heil, P., Trebilco, R., Katsumata, K., Constable, A., van Wijk, E., Assmann, K., Beja, J., Bricher, P., Colemans, R., Costa, D., Diggs, S., Farneti, R., Fawcett, S., Gille, S. T., Hendry, K. R., Henley, S., Hofmann, E., Maksym, T., MazIoff, M., Meijers, A., Meredith, M. M., Moreau, S., Ozsor, B., Robertson, R., Schloss, I., Schofield, O., Shi, J., Sikes, E., Smith, I. J., Swart, S., Wahlin, A., Williams, G., Williams, M. J. M., Herraiz-Borreguero, L., Kern, S., Liesers, J., Massom, R. A., Melbourne-Thomas, J., Miloslavich, P., & Spreen, G. Delivering sustained, coordinated, and integrated observations of the Southern Ocean for global impact. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 433, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00433.

Description: The Southern Ocean is disproportionately important in its effect on the Earth system, impacting climatic, biogeochemical, and ecological systems, which makes recent observed changes to this system cause for global concern. The enhanced understanding and improvements in predictive skill needed for understanding and projecting future states of the Southern Ocean require sustained observations. Over the last decade, the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) has established networks for enhancing regional coordination and research community groups to advance development of observing system capabilities. These networks support delivery of the SOOS 20-year vision, which is to develop a circumpolar system that ensures time series of key variables, and delivers the greatest impact from data to all key end-users. Although the Southern Ocean remains one of the least-observed ocean regions, enhanced international coordination and advances in autonomous platforms have resulted in progress toward sustained observations of this region. Since 2009, the Southern Ocean community has deployed over 5700 observational platforms south of 40°S. Large-scale, multi-year or sustained, multidisciplinary efforts have been supported and are now delivering observations of essential variables at space and time scales that enable assessment of changes being observed in Southern Ocean systems. The improved observational coverage, however, is predominantly for the open ocean, encompasses the summer, consists of primarily physical oceanographic variables, and covers surface to 2000 m. Significant gaps remain in observations of the ice-impacted ocean, the sea ice, depths 〉2000 m, the air-ocean-ice interface, biogeochemical and biological variables, and for seasons other than summer. Addressing these data gaps in a sustained way requires parallel advances in coordination networks, cyberinfrastructure and data management tools, observational platform and sensor technology, two-way platform interrogation and data-transmission technologies, modeling frameworks, intercalibration experiments, and development of internationally agreed sampling standards and requirements of key variables. This paper presents a community statement on the major scientific and observational progress of the last decade, and importantly, an assessment of key priorities for the coming decade, toward achieving the SOOS vision and delivering essential data to all end-users.

Description: PH was supported by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centers Program through the Antarctica Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, and the International Space Science Institute’s team grant #406. This work contributes to the Australian Antarctica Science projects 4301 and 4390.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Fiore-Donno, A. M., Richter-Heitmann, T., Degrune, F., Dumack, K., Regan, K. M., Marhan, S., Boeddinghaus, R. S., Rillig, M. C., Friedrich, M. W., Kandeler, E., & Bonkowski, M. Functional traits and spatio-temporal structure of a major group of soil protists (Rhizaria: Cercozoa) in a temperate grassland. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, (2019): 1332, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01332.

Description: Soil protists are increasingly appreciated as essential components of soil foodwebs; however, there is a dearth of information on the factors structuring their communities. Here we investigate the importance of different biotic and abiotic factors as key drivers of spatial and seasonal distribution of protistan communities. We conducted an intensive survey of a 10 m2 grassland plot in Germany, focusing on a major group of protists, the Cercozoa. From 177 soil samples, collected from April to November, we obtained 694 Operational Taxonomy Units representing 〉6 million Illumina reads. All major cercozoan taxonomic and functional groups were present, dominated by the small flagellates of the Glissomonadida. We found evidence of environmental selection structuring the cercozoan communities both spatially and seasonally. Spatial analyses indicated that communities were correlated within a range of 3.5 m. Seasonal variations in the abundance of bacterivores and bacteria, followed by that of omnivores suggested a dynamic prey-predator succession. The most influential edaphic properties were moisture and clay content, which differentially affected each functional group. Our study is based on an intense sampling of protists at a small scale, thus providing a detailed description of the biodiversity of different taxa/functional groups and the ecological processes involved in shaping their distribution.

Description: This work was partly supported by the DFG Priority Program 1374 “Infrastructure-Biodiversity-Exploratories.” Funding to AMF-D and MB was provided by BO 1907/18-1; funding to EK, SM, KMR, and RSB was provided by KA 1590/8-2 and KA 1590/8-3; funding to FD and MCR was provided by the BiodivERsA grant “Digging Deeper.” We are grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 316030 150817 for funding the MiSeq instrument at the University of Geneva (CH).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Goni, G. J., Sprintall, J., Bringas, F., Cheng, L., Cirano, M., Dong, S., Domingues, R., Goes, M., Lopez, H., Morrow, R., Rivero, U., Rossby, T., Todd, R. E., Trinanes, J., Zilberman, N., Baringer, M., Boyer, T., Cowley, R., Domingues, C. M., Hutchinson, K., Kramp, M., Mata, M. M., Reseghetti, F., Sun, C., Bhaskar, U., & Volko, D. More than 50 years of successful continuous temperature section measurements by the global expendable bathythermograph network, its integrability, societal benefits, and future. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 452, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00452.

Description: The first eXpendable BathyThermographs (XBTs) were deployed in the 1960s in the North Atlantic Ocean. In 1967 XBTs were deployed in operational mode to provide a continuous record of temperature profile data along repeated transects, now known as the Global XBT Network. The current network is designed to monitor ocean circulation and boundary current variability, basin-wide and trans-basin ocean heat transport, and global and regional heat content. The ability of the XBT Network to systematically map the upper ocean thermal field in multiple basins with repeated trans-basin sections at eddy-resolving scales remains unmatched today and cannot be reproduced at present by any other observing platform. Some repeated XBT transects have now been continuously occupied for more than 30 years, providing an unprecedented long-term climate record of temperature, and geostrophic velocity profiles that are used to understand variability in ocean heat content (OHC), sea level change, and meridional ocean heat transport. Here, we present key scientific advances in understanding the changing ocean and climate system supported by XBT observations. Improvement in XBT data quality and its impact on computations, particularly of OHC, are presented. Technology development for probes, launchers, and transmission techniques are also discussed. Finally, we offer new perspectives for the future of the Global XBT Network.

Description: GG, FB, SD, UR, MB, RD, and DV were supported by a grant from the NOAA/Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division (OOMD) and by NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML). The participation of JS and NZ in this study was supported by NOAA's Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program through Award NA15OAR4320071 and NSF Award 1542902. CD was funded by the Australian Research Council (FT130101532 and DP160103130); the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 148, funded by national SCOR committees and a grant to SCOR from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1546580); and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO/International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IOC/IODE) IQuOD Steering Group. LC was supported by 2016YFC1401800.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Turk, D., Wang, H., Hu, X., Gledhill, D. K., Wang, Z. A., Jiang, L., & Cai, W. Time of Emergence of surface ocean carbon dioxide trends in the North American coastal margins in support of ocean acidification observing system design. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):91, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00091.

Description: Time of Emergence (ToE) is the time when a signal emerges from the noise of natural variability. Commonly used in climate science for the detection of anthropogenic forcing, this concept has recently been applied to geochemical variables, to assess the emerging times of anthropogenic ocean acidification (OA), mostly in the open ocean using global climate and Earth System Models. Yet studies of OA variables are scarce within costal margins, due to limited multidecadal time-series observations of carbon parameters. ToE provides important information for decision making regarding the strategic configuration of observing assets, to ensure they are optimally positioned either for signal detection and/or process elicitation and to identify the most suitable variables in discerning OA-related changes. Herein, we present a short overview of ToE estimates on an OA variable, CO2 fugacity f(CO2,sw), in the North American ocean margins, using coastal data from the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) V5. ToE suggests an average theoretical timeframe for an OA signal to emerge, of 23(±13) years, but with considerable spatial variability. Most coastal areas are experiencing additional secular and/or multi-decadal forcing(s) that modifies the OA signal, and such forcing may not be sufficiently resolved by current observations. We provide recommendations, which will help scientists and decision makers design and implement OA monitoring systems in the next decade, to address the objectives of OceanObs19 (http://www.oceanobs19.net) in support of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) (https://en.unesco.org/ocean-decade) and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.3 (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg14) target to “Minimize and address the impacts of OA.”

Description: HW was partially supported by an NSF grant (OCE#1654232) while being a research associate at TAMUCC.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Heimbach, P., Fukumori, I., Hills, C. N., Ponte, R. M., Stammer, D., Wunsch, C., Campin, J., Cornuelle, B., Fenty, I., Forget, G., Koehl, A., Mazloff, M., Menemenlis, D., Nguyen, A. T., Piecuch, C., Trossman, D., Verdy, A., Wang, O., & Zhang, H. Putting it all together: Adding value to the global ocean and climate observing systems with complete self-consistent ocean state and parameter estimates. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6 (2019):55, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00055.

Description: In 1999, the consortium on Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) set out to synthesize the hydrographic data collected by the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and the satellite sea surface height measurements into a complete and coherent description of the ocean, afforded by an ocean general circulation model. Twenty years later, the versatility of ECCO's estimation framework enables the production of global and regional ocean and sea-ice state estimates, that incorporate not only the initial suite of data and its successors, but nearly all data streams available today. New observations include measurements from Argo floats, marine mammal-based hydrography, satellite retrievals of ocean bottom pressure and sea surface salinity, as well as ice-tethered profiled data in polar regions. The framework also produces improved estimates of uncertain inputs, including initial conditions, surface atmospheric state variables, and mixing parameters. The freely available state estimates and related efforts are property-conserving, allowing closed budget calculations that are a requisite to detect, quantify, and understand the evolution of climate-relevant signals, as mandated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) protocol. The solutions can be reproduced by users through provision of the underlying modeling and assimilation machinery. Regional efforts have spun off that offer increased spatial resolution to better resolve relevant processes. Emerging foci of ECCO are on a global sea level changes, in particular contributions from polar ice sheets, and the increased use of biogeochemical and ecosystem data to constrain global cycles of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Challenges in the coming decade include provision of uncertainties, informing observing system design, globally increased resolution, and moving toward a coupled Earth system estimation with consistent momentum, heat and freshwater fluxes between the ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere and land.

Description: Major support for ECCO is provided by NASA's Physical Oceanography program via a contract to JPL/Caltech, with additional support through NASA's Modeling, Analysis and Prediction program, the Cryosphere Science program, and the Computational Modeling and Cyberinfrastructure program. Supplemental funding was obtained throughout the years via standard grants to individual team members from NSF, NOAA, and ONR.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Smith, N., Kessler, W. S., Cravatte, S., Sprintall, J., Wijffels, S., Cronin, M. F., Sutton, A., Serra, Y. L., Dewitte, B., Strutton, P. G., Hill, K., Sen Gupta, A., Lin, X., Takahashi, K., Chen, D., & Brunner, S. Tropical pacific observing system. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):31, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00031.

Description: This paper reviews the design of the Tropical Pacific Observing System (TPOS) and its governance and takes a forward look at prospective change. The initial findings of the TPOS 2020 Project embrace new strategic approaches and technologies in a user-driven design and the variable focus of the Framework for Ocean Observing. User requirements arise from climate prediction and research, climate change and the climate record, and coupled modeling and data assimilation more generally. Requirements include focus on the upper ocean and air-sea interactions, sampling of diurnal variations, finer spatial scales and emerging demands related to biogeochemistry and ecosystems. One aim is to sample a diversity of climatic regimes in addition to the equatorial zone. The status and outlook for meeting the requirements of the design are discussed. This is accomplished through integrated and complementary capabilities of networks, including satellites, moorings, profiling floats and autonomous vehicles. Emerging technologies and methods are also discussed. The outlook highlights a few new foci of the design: biogeochemistry and ecosystems, low-latitude western boundary currents and the eastern Pacific. Low latitude western boundary currents are conduits of tropical-subtropical interactions, supplying waters of mid to high latitude origin to the western equatorial Pacific and into the Indonesian Throughflow. They are an essential part of the recharge/discharge of equatorial warm water volume at interannual timescales and play crucial roles in climate variability on regional and global scales. The tropical eastern Pacific, where extreme El Niño events develop, requires tailored approaches owing to the complex of processes at work there involving coastal upwelling, and equatorial cold tongue dynamics, the oxygen minimum zone and the seasonal double Intertropical Convergence Zone. A pilot program building on existing networks is envisaged, complemented by a process study of the East Pacific ITCZ/warm pool/cold tongue/stratus coupled system. The sustainability of TPOS depends on effective and strong collaborative partnerships and governance arrangements. Revisiting regional mechanisms and engaging new partners in the context of a planned and systematic design will ensure a multi-purpose, multi-faceted integrated approach that is sustainable and responsive to changing needs.

Description: BD thanks LEFE-GMMC for financial support. JS participation in this study was supported by NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program through Award NA15OAR4320071. NOAA’s Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division has supported NS and WK and the TPOS 2020 Distributed Project Office.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Speich, S., Lee, T., Muller-Karger, F., Lorenzoni, L., Pascual, A., Jin, D., Delory, E., Reverdin, G., Siddorn, J., Lewis, M. R., Marba, N., Buttigieg, P. L., Chiba, S., Manley, J., Kabo-Bah, A. T., Desai, K., & Ackerman, A. Editorial: Oceanobs19: An ocean of opportunity. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 570, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00570.

Description: The OceanObs conferences are held once every 10 years for the scientific, technical, and operational communities involved in the planning, implementation, and use of ocean observing systems. They serve to communicate progress, promote plans, and to define advances in ocean observing in response to societies' needs. Each conference provides a forum for the community to review the state of the ocean observing science and operations, and to define goals and plans to achieve over the next decade.

Description: The organizers of the OceanObs'19 conference thank the authors that conceived and jointly crafted the Community White Papers for their tremendous efforts, extensive international collaborations, and community wisdom. The organizers also thank the hundreds of reviewers of the CWPs for their dedication, and the time invested in reviewing the papers. The organizers of the OceanObs'19 conference wish to thank the chief editor of the journal, Dr. Carlos Duarte, and the Frontiers Marine Science staff, for their professionalism and support in this process.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Todd, R. E., Chavez, F. P., Clayton, S., Cravatte, S., Goes, M., Greco, M., Ling, X., Sprintall, J., Zilberman, N., V., Archer, M., Aristegui, J., Balmaseda, M., Bane, J. M., Baringer, M. O., Barth, J. A., Beal, L. M., Brandt, P., Calil, P. H. R., Campos, E., Centurioni, L. R., Chidichimo, M. P., Cirano, M., Cronin, M. F., Curchitser, E. N., Davis, R. E., Dengler, M., deYoung, B., Dong, S., Escribano, R., Fassbender, A. J., Fawcett, S. E., Feng, M., Goni, G. J., Gray, A. R., Gutierrez, D., Hebert, D., Hummels, R., Ito, S., Krug, M., Lacan, F., Laurindo, L., Lazar, A., Lee, C. M., Lengaigne, M., Levine, N. M., Middleton, J., Montes, I., Muglia, M., Nagai, T., Palevsky, H., I., Palter, J. B., Phillips, H. E., Piola, A., Plueddemann, A. J., Qiu, B., Rodrigues, R. R., Roughan, M., Rudnick, D. L., Rykaczewski, R. R., Saraceno, M., Seim, H., Sen Gupta, A., Shannon, L., Sloyan, B. M., Sutton, A. J., Thompson, L., van der Plas, A. K., Volkov, D., Wilkin, J., Zhang, D., & Zhang, L. Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2010); 423, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00423.

Description: Ocean boundary current systems are key components of the climate system, are home to highly productive ecosystems, and have numerous societal impacts. Establishment of a global network of boundary current observing systems is a critical part of ongoing development of the Global Ocean Observing System. The characteristics of boundary current systems are reviewed, focusing on scientific and societal motivations for sustained observing. Techniques currently used to observe boundary current systems are reviewed, followed by a census of the current state of boundary current observing systems globally. The next steps in the development of boundary current observing systems are considered, leading to several specific recommendations.

Description: RT was supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Fund for Innovative Research at WHOI. FC was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. MGo was funded by NSF and NOAA/AOML. XL was funded by China’s National Key Research and Development Projects (2016YFA0601803), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41490641, 41521091, and U1606402), and the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (2017ASKJ01). JS was supported by NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (Award NA15OAR4320071). DZ was partially funded by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA15OAR4320063. BS was supported by IMOS and CSIRO’s Decadal Climate Forecasting Project. We gratefully acknowledge the wide range of funding sources from many nations that have enabled the observations and analyses reviewed here.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Oehler, T., Tamborski, J., Rahman, S., Moosdorf, N., Ahrens, J., Mori, C., Neuholz, R., Schnetger, B., & Beck, M. DSi as a tracer for submarine groundwater discharge. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 563, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00563.

Description: Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is an important source of nutrients and metals to the coastal ocean, affects coastal ecosystems, and is gaining recognition as a relevant water resource. SGD is usually quantified using geochemical tracers such as radon or radium. However, a few studies have also used dissolved silicon (DSi) as a tracer for SGD, as DSi is usually enriched in groundwater when compared to surface waters. In this study, we discuss the potential of DSi as a tracer in SGD studies based on a literature review and two case studies from contrasting environments. In the first case study, DSi is used to calculate SGD fluxes in a tropical volcanic-carbonate karstic region (southern Java, Indonesia), where SGD is dominated by terrestrial groundwater discharge. The second case study discusses DSi as a tracer for marine SGD (i.e., recirculated seawater) in the tidal flat area of Spiekeroog (southern North Sea), where SGD is dominantly driven by tidal pumping through beach sands. Our results indicate that DSi is a useful tracer for SGD in various lithologies (e.g., karstic, volcanic, complex) to quantify terrestrial and marine SGD fluxes. DSi can also be used to trace groundwater transport processes in the sediment and the coastal aquifer. Care has to be taken that all sources and sinks of DSi are known and can be quantified or neglected. One major limitation is that DSi is used by siliceous phytoplankton and therefore limits its applicability to times of the year when primary production of siliceous phytoplankton is low. In general, DSi is a powerful tracer for SGD in many environments. We recommend that DSi should be used to complement other conventionally used tracers, such as radon or radium, to help account for their own shortcomings.

Description: TO, NM, and the presented case study 1 were funded through the BMBF junior research group SGD-NUT (grant #01LN1307A). Open access publication fees are paid by Leibniz-Centre for Tropical Marine Research internal funds. The presented case study 2 was financially supported by the DFG Research Group “BioGeoChemsitry of Tidal Flats”, the Ph.D. Research Training Group “The ecology of molecules” funded by the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony, and the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Meyssignac, B., Boyer, T., Zhao, Z., Hakuba, M. Z., Landerer, F. W., Stammer, D., Koehl, A., Kato, S., L'Ecuyer, T., Ablain, M., Abraham, J. P., Blazquez, A., Cazenave, A., Church, J. A., Cowley, R., Cheng, L., Domingues, C. M., Giglio, D., Gouretski, V., Ishii, M., Johnson, G. C., Killick, R. E., Legler, D., Llovel, W., Lyman, J., Palmer, M. D., Piotrowicz, S., Purkey, S. G., Roemmich, D., Roca, R., Savita, A., von Schuckmann, K., Speich, S., Stephens, G., Wang, G., Wijffels, S. E., & Zilberman, N. Measuring global ocean heat content to estimate the Earth energy Imbalance. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 432, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00432.

Description: The energy radiated by the Earth toward space does not compensate the incoming radiation from the Sun leading to a small positive energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere (0.4–1 Wm–2). This imbalance is coined Earth’s Energy Imbalance (EEI). It is mostly caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and is driving the current warming of the planet. Precise monitoring of EEI is critical to assess the current status of climate change and the future evolution of climate. But the monitoring of EEI is challenging as EEI is two orders of magnitude smaller than the radiation fluxes in and out of the Earth system. Over 93% of the excess energy that is gained by the Earth in response to the positive EEI accumulates into the ocean in the form of heat. This accumulation of heat can be tracked with the ocean observing system such that today, the monitoring of Ocean Heat Content (OHC) and its long-term change provide the most efficient approach to estimate EEI. In this community paper we review the current four state-of-the-art methods to estimate global OHC changes and evaluate their relevance to derive EEI estimates on different time scales. These four methods make use of: (1) direct observations of in situ temperature; (2) satellite-based measurements of the ocean surface net heat fluxes; (3) satellite-based estimates of the thermal expansion of the ocean and (4) ocean reanalyses that assimilate observations from both satellite and in situ instruments. For each method we review the potential and the uncertainty of the method to estimate global OHC changes. We also analyze gaps in the current capability of each method and identify ways of progress for the future to fulfill the requirements of EEI monitoring. Achieving the observation of EEI with sufficient accuracy will depend on merging the remote sensing techniques with in situ measurements of key variables as an integral part of the Ocean Observing System.

Description: GJ was supported by the NOAA Research. MP and RK were supported by the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme funded by BEIS and Defra. JC was partially supported by the Centre for Southern Hemisphere Oceans Research, a joint research centre between QNLM and CSIRO. CD and AS were funded by the Australian Research Council (FT130101532 and DP160103130) and its Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX). IQuOD team members (TB, RC, LC, CD, VG, MI, MP, and SW) were supported by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) Working Group 148, funded by the National SCOR Committees and a grant to SCOR from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1546580), as well as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO/International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IOC/IODE) IQuOD Steering Group. ZZ was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX17AH14G). LC was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFA0603200 and 2016YFC1401800).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hoarfrost, A., Balmonte, J. P., Ghobrial, S., Ziervogel, K., Bane, J., Gawarkiewicz, G., & Arnosti, C. Gulf Stream ring water intrusion on the Mid-Atlantic Bight continental shelf break affects microbially driven carbon cycling. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 394, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00394.

Description: Warm core, anticyclonic rings that spin off from the Gulf Stream circulate through the region directly offshore of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. If a warm core ring reaches the continental shelf break, its warm, highly saline water may subduct under cooler, fresher continental shelf surface water, resulting in subsurface waters at the shelf break and over the upper continental slope with high temperatures and salinities and distinct physical and chemical properties characteristic of Gulf Stream water. Such intruding water may also have microbial communities with distinct functional capacities, which may in turn affect the rate and nature of carbon cycling in this coastal/shelf environment. However, the functional capabilities of microbial communities within ring intrusion waters relative to surrounding continental shelf waters are largely unexplored. We investigated microbial community capacity to initiate organic matter remineralization by measuring hydrolysis of a suite of polysaccharide, peptide, and glucose substrates along a transect oriented across the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf, shelf break, and upper slope. At the outermost sampling site, warm and salty water derived from a Gulf Stream warm core ring was present in the lower portion of the water column. This water exhibited hydrolytic capacities distinct from other sampling sites, and exhibited lower heterotrophic bacterial productivity overall. Warm core rings adjacent to the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf have increased in frequency and duration in recent years. As the influence of warm core rings on the continental shelf and slope increases in the future, the rate and nature of organic matter remineralization on the continental shelf may also shift.

Description: This study was funded by the NSF (OCE-1332881 and OCE-1736772 to CA; OCE-1657853 to GG), with additional funding provided by the DOE (DE-SC0013887).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Foltz, G. R., Brandt, P., Richter, I., Rodriguez-Fonsecao, B., Hernandez, F., Dengler, M., Rodrigues, R. R., Schmidt, J. O., Yu, L., Lefevre, N., Da Cunha, L. C., Mcphaden, M. J., Araujo, M., Karstensen, J., Hahn, J., Martin-Rey, M., Patricola, C. M., Poli, P., Zuidema, P., Hummels, R., Perez, R. C., Hatje, V., Luebbecke, J. F., Palo, I., Lumpkin, R., Bourles, B., Asuquo, F. E., Lehodey, P., Conchon, A., Chang, P., Dandin, P., Schmid, C., Sutton, A., Giordani, H., Xue, Y., Illig, S., Losada, T., Grodsky, S. A., Gasparinss, F., Lees, T., Mohino, E., Nobre, P., Wanninkhof, R., Keenlyside, N., Garcon, V., Sanchez-Gomez, E., Nnamchi, H. C., Drevillon, M., Storto, A., Remy, E., Lazar, A., Speich, S., Goes, M., Dorrington, T., Johns, W. E., Moum, J. N., Robinson, C., Perruches, C., de Souza, R. B., Gaye, A. T., Lopez-Paragess, J., Monerie, P., Castellanos, P., Benson, N. U., Hounkonnou, M. N., Trotte Duha, J., Laxenairess, R., & Reul, N. The tropical Atlantic observing system. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6(206), (2019), doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00206.

Description: he tropical Atlantic is home to multiple coupled climate variations covering a wide range of timescales and impacting societally relevant phenomena such as continental rainfall, Atlantic hurricane activity, oceanic biological productivity, and atmospheric circulation in the equatorial Pacific. The tropical Atlantic also connects the southern and northern branches of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and receives freshwater input from some of the world’s largest rivers. To address these diverse, unique, and interconnected research challenges, a rich network of ocean observations has developed, building on the backbone of the Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA). This network has evolved naturally over time and out of necessity in order to address the most important outstanding scientific questions and to improve predictions of tropical Atlantic severe weather and global climate variability and change. The tropical Atlantic observing system is motivated by goals to understand and better predict phenomena such as tropical Atlantic interannual to decadal variability and climate change; multidecadal variability and its links to the meridional overturning circulation; air-sea fluxes of CO2 and their implications for the fate of anthropogenic CO2; the Amazon River plume and its interactions with biogeochemistry, vertical mixing, and hurricanes; the highly productive eastern boundary and equatorial upwelling systems; and oceanic oxygen minimum zones, their impacts on biogeochemical cycles and marine ecosystems, and their feedbacks to climate. Past success of the tropical Atlantic observing system is the result of an international commitment to sustained observations and scientific cooperation, a willingness to evolve with changing research and monitoring needs, and a desire to share data openly with the scientific community and operational centers. The observing system must continue to evolve in order to meet an expanding set of research priorities and operational challenges. This paper discusses the tropical Atlantic observing system, including emerging scientific questions that demand sustained ocean observations, the potential for further integration of the observing system, and the requirements for sustaining and enhancing the tropical Atlantic observing system.

Description: MM-R received funding from the MORDICUS grant under contract ANR-13-SENV-0002-01 and the MSCA-IF-EF-ST FESTIVAL (H2020-EU project 797236). GF, MG, RLu, RP, RW, and CS were supported by NOAA/OAR through base funds to AOML and the Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division (OOMD; fund reference 100007298). This is NOAA/PMEL contribution #4918. PB, MDe, JH, RH, and JL are grateful for continuing support from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. German participation is further supported by different programs funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Deutsche Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), and the European Union. The EU-PREFACE project funded by the EU FP7/2007–2013 programme (Grant No. 603521) contributed to results synthesized here. LCC was supported by the UERJ/Prociencia-2018 research grant. JOS received funding from the Cluster of Excellence Future Ocean (EXC80-DFG), the EU-PREFACE project (Grant No. 603521) and the BMBF-AWA project (Grant No. 01DG12073C).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Plummeer, S., Taylor, A. E., Harvey, E. L., Hansel, C. M., & Diaz, J. M. Dynamic regulation of extracellular superoxide production by the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (CCMP 374). Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, (2019): 1546, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01546.

Description: In marine waters, ubiquitous reactive oxygen species (ROS) drive biogeochemical cycling of metals and carbon. Marine phytoplankton produce the ROS superoxide (O2−) extracellularly and can be a dominant source of O2− in natural aquatic systems. However, the cellular regulation, biological functioning, and broader ecological impacts of extracellular O2− production by marine phytoplankton remain mysterious. Here, we explored the regulation and potential roles of extracellular O2− production by a noncalcifying strain of the cosmopolitan coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi, a key species of marine phytoplankton that has not been examined for extracellular O2− production previously. Cell-normalized extracellular O2− production was the highest under presumably low-stress conditions during active proliferation and inversely related to cell density during exponential growth phase. Removal of extracellular O2− through addition of the O2− scavenger superoxide dismutase (SOD), however, increased growth rates, growth yields, cell biovolume, and photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) indicating an overall physiological improvement. Thus, the presence of extracellular O2− does not directly stimulate E. huxleyi proliferation, as previously suggested for other phytoplankton, bacteria, fungi, and protists. Extracellular O2− production decreased in the dark, suggesting a connection with photosynthetic processes. Taken together, the tight regulation of this stress independent production of extracellular O2− by E. huxleyi suggests that it could be involved in fundamental photophysiological processes.

Description: This research was supported by a Junior Faculty Seed Grant from the University of Georgia Research Foundation (JD), a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (SP), and NSF grant OCE-1355720 (CH). The FlowCam® and FIRe were purchased through a NSF Equipment Improvement Grant (1624593).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Dodge, K. L., Kukulya, A. L., Burke, E., & Baumgartner, M. F. (2018). TurtleCam: A "smart" autonomous underwater vehicle for investigating behaviors and habitats of sea turtles. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018): 90. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00090.

Description: Sea turtles inhabiting coastal environments routinely encounter anthropogenic hazards, including fisheries, vessel traffic, pollution, dredging, and drilling. To support mitigation of potential threats, it is important to understand fine-scale sea turtle behaviors in a variety of habitats. Recent advancements in autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) now make it possible to directly observe and study the subsurface behaviors and habitats of marine megafauna, including sea turtles. Here, we describe a “smart” AUV capability developed to study free-swimming marine animals, and demonstrate the utility of this technology in a pilot study investigating the behaviors and habitat of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). We used a Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS-100) AUV, designated “TurtleCam,” that was modified to locate, follow and film tagged turtles for up to 8 h while simultaneously collecting environmental data. The TurtleCam system consists of a 100-m depth rated vehicle outfitted with a circular Ultra-Short BaseLine receiver array for omni-directional tracking of a tagged animal via a custom transponder tag that we attached to the turtle with two suction cups. The AUV collects video with six high-definition cameras (five mounted in the vehicle nose and one mounted aft) and we added a camera to the animal-borne transponder tag to record behavior from the turtle's perspective. Since behavior is likely a response to habitat factors, we collected concurrent in situ oceanographic data (bathymetry, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, currents) along the turtle's track. We tested the TurtleCam system during 2016 and 2017 in a densely populated coastal region off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, where foraging leatherbacks overlap with fixed fishing gear and concentrated commercial and recreational vessel traffic. Here we present example data from one leatherback turtle to demonstrate the utility of TurtleCam. The concurrent video, localization, depth and environmental data allowed us to characterize leatherback diving behavior, foraging ecology, and habitat use, and to assess how turtle behavior mediates risk to impacts from anthropogenic activities. Our study demonstrates that an AUV can successfully track and image leatherback turtles feeding in a coastal environment, resulting in novel observations of three-dimensional subsurface behaviors and habitat use, with implications for sea turtle management and conservation.

Description: This research was funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grant #NA16NMF4720074 to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries under the Species Recovery Grants to States program. Additional funding was provided by Jean Tempel, Hydroid Inc., and over 100 Project WHOI donors.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Clague, D. A., Paduan, J. B., Caress, D. W., Moyer, C. L., Glazer, B. T., & Yoerger, D. R. Structure of Lo'ihi Seamount, Hawai'i and lava flow morphology from high-resolution mapping. Frontiers in Earth Science, 7, (2019):58, doi:10.3389/feart.2019.00058.

Description: The early development and growth of oceanic volcanoes that eventually grow to become ocean islands are poorly known. In Hawai‘i, the submarine Lō‘ihi Seamount provides the opportunity to determine the structure and growth of such a nascent oceanic island. High-resolution bathymetric data were collected using AUV Sentry at the summit and at two hydrothermal vent fields on the deep south rift of Lō‘ihi Seamount. The summit records a nested series of caldera and pit crater collapse events, uplift of one resurgent block, and eruptions that formed at least five low lava shields that shaped the summit. The earliest and largest caldera, formed ∼5900 years ago, bounds almost the entire summit plateau. The resurgent block was uplifted slightly more than 100 m and has a tilted surface with a dip of about 6.5° toward the SE. The resurgent block was then modified by collapse of a pit crater centered in the block that formed West Pit. The shallowest point on Lō‘ihi’s summit is 986 m deep and is located on the northwest edge of the resurgent block. Several collapse events culminated in formation of East Pit, and the final collapse formed Pele’s Pit in 1996. The nine mapped collapse and resurgent structures indicate the presence of a shallow crustal magma chamber, ranging from depths of ∼1 km to perhaps 2.5 km below the summit, and demonstrate that shallow sub-caldera magma reservoirs exist during the late pre-shield stage. On the deep south rift zone are young medium- to high-flux lava flows that likely erupted in 1996 and drained the shallow crustal magma chamber to trigger the collapse that formed Pele’s Pit. These low hummocky and channelized flows had molten cores and now host the FeMO hydrothermal field. The Shinkai Deep hydrothermal site is located among steep-sided hummocky flows that formed during low-flux eruptions. The Shinkai Ridge is most likely a coherent landslide block that originated on the east flank of Lō‘ihi.

Description: Funding for the collection of the data was provided by the National Science Foundation OCE1155756 to CM and the Schmidt Ocean Institute to BG. Support for DC and JP to process the data and write the manuscript was provided by a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to MBARI.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Zhang, Y., Ryan, J. P., Kieft, B., Hobson, B. W., McEwen, R. S., Godin, M. A., Harvey, J. B., Barone, B., Bellingham, J. G., Birch, J. M., Scholin, C. A., & Chavez, F. P. Targeted sampling by autonomous underwater vehicles. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6 (2019): 415, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00415.

Description: In the vast ocean, many ecologically important phenomena are temporally episodic, localized in space, and move according to local currents. To effectively study these complex and evolving phenomena, methods that enable autonomous platforms to detect and respond to targeted phenomena are required. Such capabilities allow for directed sensing and water sample acquisition in the most relevant and informative locations, as compared against static grid surveys. To meet this need, we have designed algorithms for autonomous underwater vehicles that detect oceanic features in real time and direct vehicle and sampling behaviors as dictated by research objectives. These methods have successfully been applied in a series of field programs to study a range of phenomena such as harmful algal blooms, coastal upwelling fronts, and microbial processes in open-ocean eddies. In this review we highlight these applications and discuss future directions.

Description: This work was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The 2015 experiment in Monterey Bay was partially supported by NOAA Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Grant NA11NOS4780030. The 2018 SCOPE Hawaiian Eddy Experiment was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (OCE-0962032 and OCE-1337601), Simons Foundation Grant #329108, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Grant #3777, #3794, and #2728), and the Schmidt Ocean Institute for R/V Falkor Cruise FK180310. Publication of this paper was funded by the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Cronin, M. F., Gentemann, C. L., Edson, J., Ueki, I., Bourassa, M., Brown, S., Clayson, C. A., Fairall, C. W., Farrar, J. T., Gille, S. T., Gulev, S., Josey, S. A., Kato, S., Katsumata, M., Kent, E., Krug, M., Minnett, P. J., Parfitt, R., Pinker, R. T., Stackhouse, P. W., Jr., Swart, S., Tomita, H., Vandemark, D., Weller, R. A., Yoneyama, K., Yu, L., & Zhang, D. Air-sea fluxes with a focus on heat and momentum. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 430, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00430.

Description: Turbulent and radiative exchanges of heat between the ocean and atmosphere (hereafter heat fluxes), ocean surface wind stress, and state variables used to estimate them, are Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) influencing weather and climate. This paper describes an observational strategy for producing 3-hourly, 25-km (and an aspirational goal of hourly at 10-km) heat flux and wind stress fields over the global, ice-free ocean with breakthrough 1-day random uncertainty of 15 W m–2 and a bias of less than 5 W m–2. At present this accuracy target is met only for OceanSITES reference station moorings and research vessels (RVs) that follow best practices. To meet these targets globally, in the next decade, satellite-based observations must be optimized for boundary layer measurements of air temperature, humidity, sea surface temperature, and ocean wind stress. In order to tune and validate these satellite measurements, a complementary global in situ flux array, built around an expanded OceanSITES network of time series reference station moorings, is also needed. The array would include 500–1000 measurement platforms, including autonomous surface vehicles, moored and drifting buoys, RVs, the existing OceanSITES network of 22 flux sites, and new OceanSITES expanded in 19 key regions. This array would be globally distributed, with 1–3 measurement platforms in each nominal 10° by 10° box. These improved moisture and temperature profiles and surface data, if assimilated into Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, would lead to better representation of cloud formation processes, improving state variables and surface radiative and turbulent fluxes from these models. The in situ flux array provides globally distributed measurements and metrics for satellite algorithm development, product validation, and for improving satellite-based, NWP and blended flux products. In addition, some of these flux platforms will also measure direct turbulent fluxes, which can be used to improve algorithms for computation of air-sea exchange of heat and momentum in flux products and models. With these improved air-sea fluxes, the ocean’s influence on the atmosphere will be better quantified and lead to improved long-term weather forecasts, seasonal-interannual-decadal climate predictions, and regional climate projections.

Description: EK was funded by the NERC CLASS Program (NE/R015953/1). CLG was funded by NASA grant 80NSSC18K0837. SG was funded by MEGAGRANT P220 program (#14.W03.31.0006).

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Trowbridge, J., Weller, R., Kelley, D., Dever, E., Plueddemann, A., Barth, J. A., & Kawka, O. TThe Ocean Observatories Initiative. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019):74, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00074.

Description: The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is an integrated network that enables scientific investigation of interlinked physical, chemical, biological and geological processes throughout the global ocean. With near real-time data delivery via a common Cyberinfrastructure, the OOI instruments two contrasting ocean systems at three scales. The Regional Cabled Array instruments a tectonic plate and overlying ocean in the northeast Pacific, providing a permanent electro-optical cable connecting multiple seafloor nodes that provide high power and bandwidth to seafloor sensors and moorings with instrumented wire crawlers, all with speed-of-light interactive capabilities. Coastal arrays include the Pioneer Array, a relocatable system currently quantifying the New England shelf-break front, and the Endurance Array, a fixed system off Washington and Oregon with connections to the Regional Cabled Array. The Global Arrays host deep-ocean moorings and gliders to provide interdisciplinary measurements of the water column, mesoscale variability, and air-sea fluxes at critical high latitude locations. The OOI has unique aspects relevant to the international ocean observing community. The OOI uses common sensor types, verification protocols, and data formats across multiple platform types in diverse oceanographic regimes. OOI observing is sustained, with initial deployment in 2013 and 25 years of operation planned. The OOI is distributed among sites selected for scientific relevance based on community input and linked by important oceanographic processes. Scientific highlights include real-time observations of a submarine volcanic eruption, time-series observations of methane bubble plumes from Southern Hydrate Ridge off Oregon, observations of anomalous low-salinity pulses off Oregon, discovery of new mechanisms for intrusions of the Gulf Stream onto the shelf in the Middle Atlantic Bight, documentation of deep winter convection in the Irminger Sea, and observations of extreme surface forcing at the most southerly surface mooring in the world ocean.

Description: This work was supported by NSF funded Construction and Initial Operation of the OOI under Award 0957938 and Management and Operation of the OOI under Award 1743430.

Description: © The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wang, Z. A., Moustahfid, H., Mueller, A., V., Michel, A. P. M., Mowlem, M., Glazer, B. T., Mooney, T. A., Michaels, W., McQuillan, J. S., Robidart, J. C., Churchill, J., Sourisseau, M., Daniel, A., Schaap, A., Monk, S., Friedman, K., & Brehmer, P. Advancing observation of ocean biogeochemistry, biology, and ecosystems with cost-effective in situ sensing technologies. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 519, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00519.

Description: Advancing our understanding of ocean biogeochemistry, biology, and ecosystems relies on the ability to make observations both in the ocean and at the critical boundaries between the ocean and other earth systems at relevant spatial and temporal scales. After decades of advancement in ocean observing technologies, one of the key remaining challenges is how to cost-effectively make measurements at the increased resolution necessary for illuminating complex system processes and rapidly evolving changes. In recent years, biogeochemical in situ sensors have been emerging that are threefold or more lower in cost than established technologies; the cost reduction for many biological in situ sensors has also been significant, although the absolute costs are still relatively high. Cost savings in these advancements has been driven by miniaturization, new methods of packaging, and lower-cost mass-produced components such as electronics and materials. Recently, field projects have demonstrated the potential for science-quality data collection via large-scale deployments using cost-effective sensors and deployment strategies. In the coming decade, it is envisioned that ocean biogeochemistry and biology observations will be revolutionized by continued innovation in sensors with increasingly low price points and the scale-up of deployments of these in situ sensor technologies. The goal of this study is therefore to: (1) provide a review of existing sensor technologies that are already achieving cost-effectiveness compared with traditional instrumentation, (2) present case studies of cost-effective in situ deployments that can provide insight into methods for bridging observational gaps, (3) identify key challenge areas where progress in cost reduction is lagging, and (4) present a number of potentially transformative directions for future ocean biogeochemical and biological studies using cost-effective technologies and deployment strategies.

Description: The unpublished work related to iTag and mini-DO sensor was supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) (DBI-145559). The US NSF (OCE-1233654), the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (60NANB10D024), and the NOAA Sea Grant (2017-R/RCM-51) supported the development of the CHANOS sensor. Part of this work was supported by the European Commission via the STEMM-CCS, AtlantOS, SenseOCEAN, TriAtlas, and Preface projects under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Nos. 603521, 654462, 633211, 614141, and 817578), as well as the AWA project (IRD and BMBF; 01DG12073E), and the Blue Belt Initiative (BBI). The work on the LOC nutrients and carbonate sensors was supported by the Autonuts and CarCASS projects, part of the UK Natural Environment Research Council capital program OCEANIDS (NE/P020798/1 and NE/P02081X/1). The work on zooplankton and chlorophyll sensors was co-supported by the ROEC program (Reseau d’Observation en Environnement Côtier 2015–2020) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Cael, B. B., & Bisson, K. (2018). Particle flux parameterizations: Quantitative and mechanistic similarities and differences. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, (2018): 395. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00395.

Description: The depth-attenuation of sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) is of particular importance for the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle. Numerous idealized flux-vs.-depth relationships are available to parameterize this process in Earth System Models. Here we show that these relationships are statistically indistinguishable from available POC flux profile data. Despite their quantitative similarity, we also show these relationships have very different implications for the flux leaving the upper ocean, as well as for the mechanisms governing POC flux. We discuss how this tension might be addressed both observationally and in modeling studies.

Description: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration supported this work (awards NNX16AR47G and NNX16AR49G).