A volcaniclastic deep-sea fan off La Réunion Island (Indian Ocean): Gradualism versus catastrophism

International audienceA new geophysical data set off La Réunion Island (western Indian Ocean) reveals a large volcaniclastic submarine fan developing in an open-ocean setting. The fan is connected to a torrential river that floods during tropical cyclones. Sediment storage at the coast is limited, suggesting that the sediments are carried directly to the basin. The fan morphology and turbidites in cores lead us to classify it as a sand-rich system mainly fed by hyperpycnal flows. In the ancient geological record, there are many examples of thick volcaniclastic successions, but studies of modern analogues have emphasized mechanisms such as debris avalanches or direct pyroclastic flow into the sea. Because the Cilaos deep-sea fan is isolated from any continental source, it provides information on architecture and noncatastrophic processes in a volcaniclastic deep-sea fan

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Altimetry for the future: building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the “Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

IAOOS microlidar-on-buoy development and first atmospheric observations obtained during 2014 and 2015 arctic drifts

International audienceThe in situ tests of first ever autonomous aerosol and cloud backscatter LIDAR (light detection and ranging) systems implemented on buoys for Arctic observations has been achieved in 2015 within the French EQUIPEX IAOOS project. The environmental and operational constraints were met by adopting a concept of a fibered microjoule lidar system using a laser diode. Two systems have been developed with and without polarization analysis capability. A specific optical design was used for polarization discrimination. These systems were integrated in buoys and tested in the Arctic in 2014 and 2015 at latitudes higher than 80°N. Data were transmitted through an Iridium space link. Measurements have been obtained 90% of the time from the non-polarized system in 2014 over 8 months as the first fully equipped buoy drifted from the Barneo Russian camp close to the North Pole toward Svalbard. A polarized system was then tested over a short period in winter 2015 north of Svalbard during the Norwegian campaign N-ICE. In April and May 2014, the unattended lidar measurements showed a large occurrence of aerosols and haze. The average attenuated scattering ratio for non-cloudy profiles during this period was about 2.2. Aerosols could reach an altitude of 5km on average, whereas over the rest of the period low level clouds (below 1000 m) were prevailing with an average attenuated scattering ratio of about 103. The main features of the developed lidar instruments and first results are presented here

Arctic aerosol and cloud measurements in the frame of the Ice-Atmosphere-Ocean Observing System (IAOOS) project

International audienceIn the frame of the French IAOOS Equipex project, a new observational network is to be developed for the ocean-ice-atmosphere survey over the Arctic starting in 2015 to better understand interactions and in particular the role of aerosols and clouds in the Arctic. Eye-safe lidar measurements will allow to profile aerosols and clouds for the atmospheric part, with the objective to perform regular measurements and characterize their vertical structure and optical properties complementing satellite observations. Radiation and meteorological parameters will simultaneously be measured at the surface. A first buoy has been prototyped and deployed in April 2014 at the Barneo site set by the Russian teams at the North Pole. Measurements with the first autonomous backscatter lidar ever deployed in the arctic have been taken from April to end of November 2014 before the buoy was lost. A second set of data were acquired during the N-ICE campaign north of Svalbard during winter 2015. Up to four profiles a day (10 mn sequence each) have been performed allowing a good sampling with respect to meteorological analyses. Observations have shown that the occurrence of low level clouds was higher than 90% during summer. New deployments are planned in summer 2015 as the start of the IAOOS network. The project is presented, instruments are described and first results are discussed

PAMELi, un drone marin de surface au service de l’interdisciplinarité

International audienc

Arctic aerosol and cloud measurements performed during IAOOS 2014

International audienceBetter understanding of atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions and in particular of the role of aerosols and clouds in this Earth system is of prime importance in the Arctic. In the frame of the French IAOOS Equipex project, a new observational network is planned to be developed for ocean-ice-atmosphere climate survey over the Arctic, starting in 2015, to complement satellite observations. Eye-safe lidar measurements will allow us to profile aerosols and clouds for the atmospheric part, with the objective to perform regular measurements and characterize the vertical structure and optical properties. Radiation and meteorological parameters will be measured at the surface. A first buoy has been prototyped and deployed in April 2014 at the Barneo site set by the Russian teams at the North Pole. Measurements with the first autonomous backscatter lidar ever deployed in the arctic have been taken from April to end of November 2014 before the buoy was lost. Four profiles a day have been performed allowing a good sampling of cloud variability. Observations have shown that the occurrence of low level clouds was higher than 90% during summer. The project is presented, instrument performance is described and first results are discussed

IAOOS (Ice - Atmosphere - Arctic Ocean Observing System, 2011-2019)

6th International Workshop on Sea-Ice Modelling and Data Assimilation, 2014 September 15-16, Toulouse, FranceInternational audienceThe key to documenting and understanding change in the Arctic is continuous monitoring. The high cost of Arctic operations thus makes observationsby satellite or with long-endurance, refurbishable, autonomous platforms a cost effective solution to continuously observe on-going changes in nearreal-time. IAOOS (Ice Atmosphere Ocean Observing System, http://www.iaoos-equipex.upmc.fr, http://iaoos.ipev.fr/) is a nine-year France-fundedproject (2011-2019), developed by LOCEAN and LATMOS, which objective is to provide and maintain an integrated observing system over the ArcticOcean that collects synoptic and near real time information related to the state of the atmosphere, the snow, the sea-ice and the ocean