Perspectives on Chemical Oceanography in the 21st century: Participants of the COME ABOARD Meeting examine aspects of the field in the context of 40 years of DISCO

The questions that chemical oceanographers prioritize over the coming decades, and the methods we use to address these questions, will define our field's contribution to 21st century science. In recognition of this, the U.S. National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration galvanized a community effort (the Chemical Oceanography MEeting: A BOttom-up Approach to Research Directions, or COME ABOARD) to synthesize bottom-up perspectives on selected areas of research in Chemical Oceanography. Representing only a small subset of the community, COME ABOARD participants did not attempt to identify targeted research directions for the field. Instead, we focused on how best to foster diverse research in Chemical Oceanography, placing emphasis on the following themes: strengthening our core chemical skillset; expanding our tools through collaboration with chemists, engineers, and computer scientists; considering new roles for large programs; enhancing interface research through interdisciplinary collaboration; and expanding ocean literacy by engaging with the public. For each theme, COME ABOARD participants reflected on the present state of Chemical Oceanography, where the community hopes to go and why, and actionable pathways to get there. A unifying concept among the discussions was that dissimilar funding structures and metrics of success may be required to accommodate the various levels of readiness and stages of knowledge development found throughout our community. In addition to the science, participants of the concurrent Dissertations Symposium in Chemical Oceanography (DISCO) XXV, a meeting of recent and forthcoming Ph.D. graduates in Chemical Oceanography, provided perspectives on how our field could show leadership in addressing long-standing diversity and early-career challenges that are pervasive throughout science. Here we summarize the COME ABOARD Meeting discussions, providing a synthesis of reflections and perspectives on the field

Patterns and variability in ocean acidification conditions in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca

The Washington Ocean Acidification Center is working with NOAA and other partners to increase understanding of ocean acidification dynamics and spatial variability in the Salish Sea, and how these correlate with planktonic responses. These data are critical for assessing water quality, areas with higher or lower OA stress, and to understand effects on the food web. Two main strategies are employed; seasonal ship cruises provide spatial coverage and the ability to collect plankton, while mooring buoys provide information on mechanisms and the range of variation due to the high-resolution and constant coverage they provide. Results show a strong degree of depth, seasonal, and spatial variation in pH and aragonite saturation state. In general, the lowest pH and aragonite saturation state values are at depth, particularly in stratified areas, though this can shift during seasonal localized upwelling, e.g., Southern Hood Canal, and in mixed water columns, e.g., the Main Basin. Seasonal patterns are spatially diverse, with stratified areas exhibiting strong vertical gradients with depth during summer and more homogenous conditions during winter; well-mixed areas show less variation year-round. This implies that species encounter quite different OA conditions in various parts of the Salish Sea between the seasons. Mooring CO2 data reveal higher variation during late fall through early spring at sites within the Salish Sea, due to winter mixing of stratified waters, yet the reverse pattern off the Washington coast, due to summer upwelling. In both cases, these mechanisms (winter mixing and summer upwelling) operate across a gradient, bringing relatively deeper lower pH / aragonite saturation state waters in contact with surface waters with higher values. Such changes in the spatial and depth distribution of corrosive conditions have broad implications for sensitive marine life

New and Updated Global Empirical Seawater Property Estimation Routines

We introduce three new Empirical Seawater Property Estimation Routines (ESPERs) capable of predicting seawater phosphate, nitrate, silicate, oxygen, total titration seawater alkalinity, total hydrogen scale pH (pHT), and total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from up to 16 combinations of seawater property measurements. The routines generate estimates from neural networks (ESPER_NN), locally interpolated regressions (ESPER_LIR), or both (ESPER_Mixed). They require a salinity value and coordinate information, and benefit from additional seawater measurements if available. These routines are intended for seawater property measurement quality control and quality assessment, generating estimates for calculations that require approximate values, original science, and producing biogeochemical property context from a data set. Relative to earlier LIR routines, the updates expand their functionality, including new estimated properties and combinations of predictors, a larger training data product including new cruises from the 2020 Global Data Analysis Project data product release, and the implementation of a first-principles approach for quantifying the impacts of anthropogenic carbon on DIC and pHT. We show that the new routines perform at least as well as existing routines, and, in some cases, outperform existing approaches, even when limited to the same training data. Given that additional training data has been incorporated into these updated routines, these updates should be considered an improvement over earlier versions. The routines are intended for all ocean depths for the interval from 1980 to ~2030 c.e., and we caution against using the routines to directly quantify surface ocean seasonality or make more distant predictions of DIC or pHT.1,82

Nonuniform ocean acidification and attenuation of the ocean carbon sink

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 44 (2017): 8404–8413, doi:10.1002/2017GL074389.Surface ocean carbon chemistry is changing rapidly. Partial pressures of carbon dioxide gas (pCO2) are rising, pH levels are declining, and the ocean's buffer capacity is eroding. Regional differences in short-term pH trends primarily have been attributed to physical and biological processes; however, heterogeneous seawater carbonate chemistry may also be playing an important role. Here we use Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas Version 4 data to develop 12 month gridded climatologies of carbonate system variables and explore the coherent spatial patterns of ocean acidification and attenuation in the ocean carbon sink caused by rising atmospheric pCO2. High-latitude regions exhibit the highest pH and buffer capacity sensitivities to pCO2 increases, while the equatorial Pacific is uniquely insensitive due to a newly defined aqueous CO2 concentration effect. Importantly, dissimilar regional pH trends do not necessarily equate to dissimilar acidity ([H+]) trends, indicating that [H+] is a more useful metric of acidification.2018-02-1

An Operational Overview of the EXport Processes In the Ocean From RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) Northeast Pacific Field Deployment

The goal of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) field campaign is to develop a predictive understanding of the export, fate, and carbon cycle impacts of global ocean net primary production. To accomplish this goal, observations of export flux pathways, plankton community composition, food web processes, and optical, physical, and biogeochemical (BGC) properties are needed over a range of ecosystem states. Here we introduce the first EXPORTS field deployment to Ocean Station Papa in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during summer of 2018, providing context for other papers in this special collection. The experiment was conducted with two ships: a Process Ship, focused on ecological rates, BGC fluxes, temporal changes in food web, and BGC and optical properties, that followed an instrumented Lagrangian float; and a Survey Ship that sampled BGC and optical properties in spatial patterns around the Process Ship. An array of autonomous underwater assets provided measurements over a range of spatial and temporal scales, and partnering programs and remote sensing observations provided additional observational context. The oceanographic setting was typical of late-summer conditions at Ocean Station Papa: a shallow mixed layer, strong vertical and weak horizontal gradients in hydrographic properties, sluggish sub-inertial currents, elevated macronutrient concentrations and low phytoplankton abundances. Although nutrient concentrations were consistent with previous observations, mixed layer chlorophyll was lower than typically observed, resulting in a deeper euphotic zone. Analyses of surface layer temperature and salinity found three distinct surface water types, allowing for diagnosis of whether observed changes were spatial or temporal. The 2018 EXPORTS field deployment is among the most comprehensive biological pump studies ever conducted. A second deployment to the North Atlantic Ocean occurred in spring 2021, which will be followed by focused work on data synthesis and modeling using the entire EXPORTS data set

Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems

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.Fil: Todd, Robert E.. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Estados UnidosFil: Chavez, Francisco. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Clayton, Sophie. Old Dominion University; Estados UnidosFil: Cravatte, Sophie E.. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement; Francia. Universite de Toulouse; FranciaFil: Goes, Marlos P.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Graco, Michelle I.. Instituto del Mar del Peru; PerúFil: Lin, Xiaopei. Ocean University of China; ChinaFil: Sprintall, Janet. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Zilberman, Nathalie V.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Archer, Matthew. California Institute of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Arístegui, Javier. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; EspañaFil: Balmaseda, Magdalena A.. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts; Reino UnidoFil: Bane, John M.. University of North Carolina; Estados UnidosFil: Baringer, Molly O.. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory ; Estados UnidosFil: Barth, John A.. State University of Oregon; Estados UnidosFil: Beal, Lisa M.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Brandt, Peter. Geomar-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel; AlemaniaFil: Calil, Paulo H.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Campos, Edmo. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Centurioni, Luca R.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Chidichimo, María Paz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de Hidrografía Naval; ArgentinaFil: Cirano, Mauro. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Cronin, Meghan F.. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Curchitser, Enrique N.. Rutgers University; Estados UnidosFil: Davis, Russ E.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Dengler, Marcus. Geomar-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel; AlemaniaFil: DeYoung, Brad. Memorial University of Newfoundland; CanadáFil: Dong, Shenfu. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Escribano, Ruben. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Fassbender, Andrea J.. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Estados Unido

EXPORTS Measurements and Protocols for the NE Pacific Campaign

EXport Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) is a large-scale NASA-led and NSF co-funded field campaign that will provide critical information for quantifying the export and fate of upper ocean net primary production (NPP) using satellite information and state of the art technology

Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems

© 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.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.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

Global Oceans

Global Oceans is one chapter from the State of the Climate in 2019 annual report and is avail-able from https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0105.1. Compiled by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate in 2019 is based on contr1ibutions from scien-tists from around the world. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instru-ments located on land, water, ice, and in space. The full report is available from https://doi.org /10.1175/2020BAMSStateoftheClimate.1