Future priorities for observing the dynamics of the Southern Ocean
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1.
Stanford University
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2.
Brown University
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3.
University of Washington
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4.
University of St Andrews
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5.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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6.
California Institute of Technology
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7.
University of California, Los Angeles
- 8. University of California, Office of the President
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9.
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Abstract
The Southern Ocean has an outsized influence on the global climate. The region takes up a disproportionate amount of anthropogenic heat and CO2; mediates the transport of heat to the Antarctic ice sheet that influences ice sheet melt rates; impacts global atmospheric weather patterns and climate feedbacks; and supports global marine ecosystem via the upwelling and transport of nutrients (Sarmiento et al. 2004; Fr¨olicher et al. 2015; Gruber et al. 2019; Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) 2022; Gray 2024). Despite significant scientific and observational advances over the past few decades, the region’s dynamics remain a major source of uncertainty in climate projections of global surfacewarming and sea level rise over the next century. The Southern Ocean also remains sparsely sampled, especially during the winter months in regions covered by sea ice. With the recent downsizing of the icebreaker fleet operated by the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), there is heightened urgency for the Southern Ocean research community to prioritize its scientific objectives and future observational needs.
To address these challenges, an NSF-funded workshop was held on April 17-19, 2024, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Attendees were tasked to highlight recent advances in Southern Ocean physical oceanographic research, identify key knowledge gaps, and outline an ambitious but achievable set of research and observational priorities for the coming years. The workshop included three science sessions focused on: (i) the open Southern Ocean, (ii) the seasonal sea ice zone, and (iii) the Antarctic continental shelf. Additional sessions addressed equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in fieldwork, as well as data management. Each session featured presentations and breakout discussions to gather input on key scientific goals and observational strategies. There were approximately 60 participants, including over 20 virtual attendees.
Copyright and License
© 2024 American Meteorological Society. This is an Author Accepted Manuscript distributed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).
Additional Information
Early Online Release: This preliminary version has been accepted for publication in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, may be fully cited, and has been assigned DOI 10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0254.1. The final typeset copyedited article will replace the EOR at the above DOI when it is published.
Acknowledgement
We thank all workshop attendees whose comments and ideas formed the basis of this report. We are especially grateful to the workshop’s invited speakers, Mariama Dry´ak-Vallies, Jamin Greenbaum, Lydi Keppler, Carlos Moffat, and Sharon Stammerjohn for providing insightful presentations that helped to frame our discussions. We thank Andrew Hennig for verifying the accuracy of this report. This workshop was funded by the NSF Office of Polar Programs under grant 2309312.
Data Availability
Further details about the workshop and complete schedule of the
meeting can be accessed here: https://sites.google.com/ucsd.edu/soworkshop2024/home
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Additional details
- Office of Polar Programs
- 2309312
- Accepted
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2024-10-22Accepted
- Available
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2024-11-01Published online
- Publication Status
- In Press