Collaborative Research: The O2/N2 Ratio and CO2 Airborne Southern Ocean (ORCAS) Study

南大洋在海洋吸收过量（人为）碳方面起着主导作用，但地球系统模式对这一海气交换过程的程度描述得很差，其未来预测仍然高度不确定。南大洋O2/N2比率和CO2机载研究（ORCAS）旨在促进对广阔的南大洋中海气交换和O2和CO2吸收的物理和生物控制的理解。这将通过密集的空气调查来调查大气中的O2， CO2，相关气体，它们的平衡状态，以及邻近南美洲南端和南极半岛西部的各种生物地球化学区域的其他海洋表面特性。ORCAS将利用NSF湾流V （GV）飞机，配备一套高精度的现场和遥感仪器，在6周的时间里，从智利的蓬塔阿雷纳斯出发，在德雷克海峡上空飞行14次，并同时飞越ARSV LM古尔德对帕尔默LTER站点进行采样。ORCAS的观测将由一套海洋生物地球化学模型指导，并用于测试这套模型，以提高我们对这个世界上采样不足但气候重要地区的关键过程和反馈的理解。

The Southern Ocean plays a dominant role in the oceanic uptake of excess (anthropogenic) carbon, yet the extent of this air-sea exchange process is poorly represented by earth system models, and its future projection remains highly uncertain. The O2/N2 Ratio and CO2 Airborne Southern Ocean Study (ORCAS) seeks to advance understanding of the physical and biological controls on air-sea exchange and uptake of O2 and CO2 in the vast Southern Ocean. This will be investigated through intensive airborne surveys of atmospheric O2, CO2, related gases, their state of equilibrium, along with other ocean surface properties over diverse biogeochemical regions adjacent to the southern tip of South America and the Western Antarctic Peninsula. ORCAS will utilize the NSF Gulfstream V (GV) aircraft equipped with a suite of high-precision in situ and remote sensing instruments, on 14 flights over a period of 6 weeks in austral mid-summer, from Punta Arenas, Chile, out over the Drake Passage, and with concurrent overflights of the ARSV LM Gould sampling the Palmer LTER site. ORCAS observations will be guided by, and used to test a suite of ocean biogeochemistry models to improve our understanding of key processes and feedbacks in this under sampled yet climatically important region of the world.