Collaborative Research: Optical Environment of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) Region

该项目通过模拟环境的光学特性，发展南极冬季冰雪覆盖的演变与生物栖息地变异性之间的机制联系，从而对理解生物和物理动力学的相互作用作出了贡献。这项工作将在全球海洋生态系统动力学研究（Globec）的南大洋实验的背景下进行，这是一项大型的、多名研究人员对南极海冰下磷虾冬季生存策略的研究。雪和海冰的光学特性在整个冬季都在演变，并且在光谱和空间上都有很大的变化。这些特性是自然环境的一个重要因素，对南极磷虾的分布和可利用资源都有很大的影响。入射辐射能的强度及其在雪、冰和水柱环境中的分布，以及调节其分布的相关物理、光学、化学和生物过程通常是已知的，但很少量化。冰雪的光学特性也会影响雪藻、冰藻和水柱的生产力，以及捕食者和猎物的能见度。此外，光学特性作为地球物理海冰参数的替代指标，在卫星观测中发挥着至关重要的作用，使当地观测能够更准确地在空间和时间上进行外推，从而提供否则不可能实现的区域覆盖。建议部署一系列仪器化的冰信标，并辅以定期的船载和卫星观测，同时进行理论研究，以创建改进的定量模型，从而跟踪这一冰雪海洋生态系统的时空演变。具体目标是通过耦合现有成分建立一个热力学海冰/生态系统模型，以测试我们对系统的理解，确定其灵敏度，并为整合南大洋全球观测提供一个组织机制。＊＊＊

This project is a contribution to a coordinated attempt to understand the interactions of biological and physical dynamics by developing mechanistic links between the evolution of the antarctic winter ice and snow cover, and biological habitat variability, through modeling the optical properties of the environment. The work will be carried out in the context of the Southern Ocean Experiment of the Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Study (Globec), a large, multi-investigator study of the winter survival strategy of krill under the antarctic sea ice.The optical properties of snow and sea ice evolve through the winter and vary greatly both spectrally and spatially. These properties are an important element of the physical environment that strongly influences both the distribution of and the resources available to antarctic krill. The intensity of incident radiant energy and its distribution within the snow, ice, and water column environment, and the linked physical, optical, chemical, and biological processes that modulate its distribution are generally known but poorly quantified. The optical properties of snow and ice also influence snow algae, ice algae, and water column productivity, as well as visibility for both predator and prey. Furthermore, optical properties play an essential role in satellite observations as proxy indicators of geophysical sea ice parameters which permit local observations to be more accurately extrapolated in space and time, thus providing regional coverage that would otherwise not be possible. What is proposed is the deployment of an array of instrumented ice beacons, augmented by periodic ship-based and satellite observations, along with theoretical studies to create improved quantitative models with which to follow the temporal and spatial evolution of this snow and ice marine ecosystem.The specific objective is to develop a thermodynamic sea ice/ecosystem model through coupling of existing components in order to test our understanding of the system, determine its sensitivities, and to provide an organizing mechanism for integrating the Southern Ocean Globec observations. ***