Research on Ocean - Atmosphere Variablilty and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea (ROAVERRS)

该项目是一项跨学科研究，名为“罗斯海海洋-大气变率和生态系统响应研究”（ROAVERRS），研究南极洲罗斯海西南部的大气强迫、海洋水文、海冰动力学、初级生产力和中上层-底栖生物耦合。主要目标是研究极地气候系统各方面的变化，在本例中是风和温度的变化，如何结合起来影响大型南极大陆架的海洋生产力。在罗斯海，降风和中气旋影响海冰的时空分布以及上层海洋混合层深度，从而控制海冰内部和开放水域系统的初级生产。通过上层海洋产生的有机碳水平和垂直通量的季节间和年际变化，底栖生物群落的结构、存量和生产力也与气象过程相联系。在为期三年的罗斯海西南部生态系统实地研究期间，将调查大气、海洋和生物系统之间的联系。直接测量将包括从自动气象站获得的区域风力和空气温度；由各种卫星传感器获得的冰盖、冰的移动和海面温度；上层海洋的水文特征以及由考察巡航和卫星研究得出的冰和水中的初级生产力；有机物质的垂直通量和水的运动来源于包含沉积物捕集器和流速计的海洋系泊，以及海底生物群落的丰度、分布和呼吸速率，来源于箱芯、底栖动物照片和船上孵育。根据存档的气象资料，预计研究期间的大气变率将能够监测气流型的变化及其对海洋和生物型的影响，并推断出它们之间的直接和间接联系，这是研究的重点。这项研究的结果将有助于我们了解大气和海洋对海洋生态系统的强迫作用，并使我们更好地了解海洋生态系统对气候变化的响应。＊＊＊

This project is an interdisciplinary study, titled Research on Ocean-Atmosphere Variability and Ecosystem Response in the Ross Sea (ROAVERRS), of atmospheric forcing, ocean hydrography, sea ice dynamics, primary productivity, and pelagic-benthic coupling in the southwestern Ross Sea, Antarctica. The primary goal is to examine how changes in aspects of the polar climate system, in this case wind and temperature, combine to influence marine productivity on a large antarctic continental shelf. In the Ross Sea, katabatic winds and mesocyclones influence the spatial and temporal distribution of sea ice as well as the upper ocean mixed layer depth, and thus control primary production within the sea ice as well as in the open water system. The structure, standing stock and productivity of bottom- dwelling biological communities are also linked to meteorological processes through interseasonal and interannual variations in horizontal and vertical fluxes of organic carbon produced in the upper ocean. Linkages among the atmospheric, oceanic, and biological systems will be investigated during a three-year field study of the southwestern Ross Sea ecosystem. Direct measurements will include regional wind and air temperatures derived from automatic weather stations; ice cover, ice movement, and sea surface temperatures derived from a variety of satellite-based sensors; hydrographic characteristics of the upper ocean and primary productivity in the ice and in the water derived from research cruises and satellite studies; vertical flux of organic material and water movement derived from oceanographic moorings containing sediment traps and current meters, and the abundance, distribution, and respiration rates of biological communities on the sea floor, derived from box cores, benthic photographs and shipboard incubations. Based on archived meteorological data, it is expected that the atmospheric variability during the study period will be such that changes in airflow pat terns and their influence on oceanographic and biological patterns can be monitored, and their direct and indirect linkages that are the focus of the research can be deduced. Results from this study will contribute to our knowledge of atmospheric and oceanic forcing of marine ecosystems, and lead to a better understanding of marine ecosystem response to climatic variations. ***