Modélisation biogéochimique de la mer Méditerranée avec le modèle régional couplé NEMO-MED12/PISCES

The Mediterranean Sea is considered as a hot spot of climate change. This arid region, already under high anthropogenic influence, is said to become even warmer and drier, with still an increasing anthropogenic pressure. In this context, numerous physical and biogeochemical data are currently collected in the Mediterranean Sea, within the MERMEX project, enabling to better study and understand the Mediterranean biogeochemical cycles. Complementary to in-situ observations, modelling is an unique tool that helps to understand and quantify biogeochemical controling processes in the Mediterranean Sea, its specificity, and its evolution. In this study, we propose the setting and evaluation of a regional, high resolution, marine dynamicalbiogeochemical coupled model (NEMO-PISCES). It will be the first model available for the MERMEX community, that covers the whole Mediterranean Sea. Therefor, after the evaluation of NEMO-MED12 dynamical forcing fields, within passive tracers simulation (CFC), firsts use of this tool have been made : (i) we have evaluated anthropogenic carbon uptake and induced acidification of the Mediterranean Sea, within a perturbation approach ; (ii) we have analysed Mediterranean Sea trophic regimes, as represented by the model, for different layers of the photic zone.La mer Méditerranée est considérée comme un point chaud du changement climatique. Cette région très peuplée au climat aride devrait voir son climat devenir plus chaud et plus aride encore, tout en subissant une pression anthropique toujours plus forte. Dans ce contexte, de nombreuses données physiques et biogéochimiques sont actuellement relevées en mer Méditerranée, dans le cadre du projet MERMEX, afin de mieux étudier et comprendre les cycles biogéochimiques en mer Méditerranée. Complémentaire aux mesures, la modélisation est un outil unique pour aider à comprendre et quantifier les processus contrôlant la biogéochimie marine de la Méditerranée, ses spécificités et son évolution future. Dans cette étude, nous proposons la mise en place, et l’évaluation d’un modèle régional couplé dynamique - biogéochimie marine (NEMO-PISCES), à haute résolution, qui sera le premier modèle couvrant l’intégralité de la mer Méditerranée disponible pour la communauté MERMEX. Ainsi, après avoir évalué la dynamique du modèle NEMO-MED12, utilisée comme forçage, grâce à une simulation de traceurs passifs (CFC), nous effectuons les premières utilisations de cet outil, avec lequel (i) nous évaluons la quantité de carbone anthropique en mer Méditerranée grâce à une approche par perturbation, ainsi que l’acidification associée des masses d’eau ; (ii) nous effectuons une étude des régimes trophiques en mer Méditerranée, tels que perçus par le modèle, sur différentes couches de la zone euphotique

Characteristics and conditions of production of transient luminous events observed over a maritime storm

International audienceOn the night of 15/16 November 2007, cameras in southern France detected 30 transient luminous events (TLEs) over a storm located in the Corsican region (France). Among these TLEs, 19 were sprites, 6 were halos, and 5 were elves. For 26 of them, a positive “parent” cloud‐to‐ground lightning (P+CG) flash was identified. The peak current of the P+CG flashes for the sprites had an average value of 63 kA and had a maximum value of 125 kA. The flashes for the halos and the elves had average values of 272 and 351 kA, respectively, and they had maximum values of 312 and 384 kA, respectively. No TLEs were detected after negative CG flashes with very large peak currents. Among the 26 P+CG flashes, 23 were located in a stratiform region with reflectivity values lower than 45 dBZ. The CG flashes in this region were classified into two groups according to the time interval separating them from the following flash: one group with values less than 2 s and one with values greater than 2 s. About 79% of all CGs were produced in a sequence of at least two flashes less than 2 s apart. For 65.5% of the sequences, the first flash was positive with an average peak current of 73 kA, while the later +CG flashes in a sequence had much lower peak currents. Several triangulated sprites were found to be shifted from their P+CG flashes by about 10 to 50 km and preferentially downstream. The observations suggest that the P+CG flashes can initiate both sprites and other CG flashes in a storm

Spin‐up of UK Earth System Model 1 (UKESM1) for CMIP6

For simulations intended to study the influence of anthropogenic forcing on climate, temporal stability of the Earth's natural heat, freshwater and biogeochemical budgets is critical. Achieving such coupled model equilibration is scientifically and computationally challenging. We describe the protocol used to spin‐up the UK Earth system model (UKESM1) with respect to pre‐industrial forcing for use in the 6th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). Due to the high computational cost of UKESM1's atmospheric model, especially when running with interactive full chemistry and aerosols, spin‐up primarily used parallel configurations using only ocean/land components. For the ocean, the resulting spin‐up permitted the carbon and heat contents of the ocean's full volume to approach equilibrium over ~5000 years. On land, a spin‐up of ~1000 years brought UKESM1's dynamic vegetation and soil carbon reservoirs towards near‐equilibrium. The end‐states of these parallel ocean‐ and land‐only phases then initialised a multi‐centennial period of spin‐up with the full Earth system model, prior to this simulation continuing as the UKESM1 CMIP6 pre‐industrial control (piControl). The realism of the fully‐coupled spin‐up was assessed for a range of ocean and land properties, as was the degree of equilibration for key variables. Lessons drawn include the importance of consistent interface physics across ocean‐ and land‐only models and the coupled (parent) model, the extreme simulation duration required to approach equilibration targets, and the occurrence of significant regional land carbon drifts despite global‐scale equilibration. Overall, the UKESM1 spin‐up underscores the expense involved and argues in favour of future development of more efficient spin‐up techniques

Coralline Algae in a Changing Mediterranean Sea: How Can We Predict Their Future, if We Do Not Know Their Present?

In this review we assess the state of knowledge for the coralline algae of the Mediterranean Sea, a group of calcareous seaweeds imperfectly known and considered highly vulnerable to long-term climate change. Corallines have occurred in the Mediterranean area for ∼140 My and are well-represented in the subsequent fossil record; for some species currently common the fossil documentation dates back to the Oligocene, with a major role in the sedimentary record of some areas. Some Mediterranean corallines are key ecosystem engineers that produce or consolidate biogenic habitats (e.g., coralligenous concretions, Lithophyllum byssoides rims, rims of articulated corallines, maerl/rhodolith beds). Although bioconstructions built by corallines exist virtually in every sea, in the Mediterranean they reach a particularly high spatial and bathymetric extent (coralligenous concretions alone are estimated to exceed 2,700 km2 in surface). Overall, composition, dynamics and responses to human disturbances of coralline-dominated communities have been well-studied; except for a few species, however, the biology of Mediterranean corallines is poorly known. In terms of diversity, 60 species of corallines are currently reported from the Mediterranean. This number, however, is based on morphological assessments and recent studies incorporating molecular data suggest that the correct estimate is probably much higher. The responses of Mediterranean corallines to climate change have been the subject of several recent studies that documented their tolerance/sensitivity to elevated temperatures and pCO2. These investigations have focused on a few species and should be extended to a wider taxonomic set