Landmark Study of Air-Sea Gas Exchange Underway in Equatorial Pacific Scientists left Panama Friday, February 2nd aboard the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown to begin a 36 day study of gas exchange in the Equatorial Pacific, the ocean's largest natural source region of carbon dioxide. The study will focus on understanding the processes which control gas exchange at the surface of the ocean and characterizing the spatial distribution of carbon dioxide in the water column. Understanding gas exchange is essential for being able to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide that the ocean absorbs from or releases to the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Equipment on board ship for this study includes the large floating buoy, ASIS, which will be deployed for a drifting study south of the Equator, several autonomous sensors, infrared detectors, radars, and two remotely controlled platforms which will be able to measure associated water column and surface properties. Several NOAA labs, including PMEL, AOML, ETL, and multiple academic institutions are participating, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Miami, University of Washington, University of Montana, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, University of Heidelberg, University of Rhode Island, and the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. This unique collaboration of investigators will be able to study the important processes using many independent methods, and the experiment holds great promise for breakthroughs in the field of gas exchange research and our ability to quantify exchanges of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and ocean. OGP Science Education Arrangements are well underway for a teacher to sail on the NOAA RV Ron Brown as it engages in the ACE-ASIA Field Experiment next month. Susan Carty, a science teacher in Pennsylvania, will travel with the ship from Hawaii, participate and report on the experiment via the web, and experience aspects of the airborne data collection on board the NCAR C-130 aircraft.