Collaborative Research: Southern Ocean Carbon Gas Observatory (SCARGO)

南大洋在全球碳循环中发挥着关键作用，但该区域二氧化碳的海气通量仍存在不确定性。该项目将启动一项新的机载测量计划来解决这个问题：南大洋碳气体观测站（SCARGO）。这种方法将绘制整个极地对流层的二氧化碳分布图，从而对夏季的海气通量进行可靠的估计。SCARGO将利用一个观测平台，即纽约空军国民警卫队（ANG） LC-130飞机，在夏季从麦克默多站支持美国南极计划执行任务。测量将在三个野外季节进行。分析和建模活动将根据观测，包括当前和未来碳气候通量的季节内演变和年际变率，对南大洋空气-海洋二氧化碳空气交换进行量化。SCARGO将解决两个基本的研究问题：(1)夏季南大洋二氧化碳吸收的幅度和季节演变是什么？(2)夏季二氧化碳通量的年际变化有多大？驱动这种变化的过程是什么？与解决这些研究问题的其他方法相比，飞机测量有几个明显的优势。此外，SCARGO还解决了几个辅助研究问题，利用大气甲烷（CH4）、一氧化碳（CO）和水蒸气（H2O）的同步测量。SCARGO PI将让学生参与该项目，在基于飞机的海洋学和数值模拟的科学和技术方面提供教育和指导。1名博士后将接受海洋生物地球化学、地球系统和运输模型等方面的培训。所有的分析代码将在GitHub上公开发布，以清晰、文档完备的形式实现可重复性。最后，SCARGO将展示NYANG LC-130在大气调查中的有效性，从而为实现建立南极航空研究平台的建议做出贡献。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle, yet there remians uncertainty regarding air-sea fluxes of carbon dioxide in the region. This project will initiate a novel airborne measurement program to address this: the Southern Ocean Carbon Gas Observatory (SCARGO). This approach will map distributions of carbon dioxide throughout the polar troposphere enabling robust estimates of summertime air-sea fluxes. SCARGO will leverage an observational platform of opportunity, the New York Air National Guard (ANG) LC-130 aircraft, operating austral summer from McMurdo Station supporting the United States Antarctic Program. Measurements will be made over three field seasons. Analysis and modeling activities will quantify Southern Ocean air-sea carbon dioxide air-exchange based on the observations, including the intra-seasonal evolution and interannual variability of current and future carbon climate fluxes.SCARGO will address two fundamental research questions: (1) What is the magnitude and seasonal evolution of summertime Southern Ocean carbon dioxide uptake? and (2) How large is interannual variability in summertime carbon dioxide flux and what processes drive this variability? Aircraft measurements have several distinct advantages over other approaches to address these research questions. Additionally SCARGO also address several ancillary research questions leveraging concurrent measurements of atmospheric methane(CH4), carbon monoxide (CO), and water vapor (H2O). SCARGO PI's will involve students in the project, providing education and mentoring on the scientific and technical aspects of aircraft-based oceanography and numerical modeling. A postdoctoral scholar on the project will be trained in ocean biogeochemistry, Earth system and transport modeling. All analysis codes will be publicly released on GitHub in clear, well-documented forms enabling reproducibility. Finally, SCARGO will demonstrate the effectiveness of the NYANG LC-130 for atmospheric surveys, thereby contributing to realizing recommendations to establish an airborne research platform for the Antarctic.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.