FOR 1740: A New Approach toward Improved Estimates of Atlantic Ocean Freshwater Budgets and Transports as Part of the Global Hydrological Cycle

研究股的主要主题是分析和了解海洋的淡水收支，包括表层淡水通量(净蒸发量减去降水量加上径流和海冰融化)在改变上层海洋含盐量方面的作用。研究股侧重于大西洋，这是与气候有关的变化的关键区域之一，并具体处理大西洋上层和海冰的形成/融化如何以及在多大程度上对全球水文循环作出贡献的问题。因此，研究股的工作还涉及海洋在全球水循环中的作用，以及不断变化的水循环对海洋盐度、密度和环流场的影响。这些问题是世界气候研究方案(气候研究方案)及其次级方案CLIVAR和GEWEX促进的研究活动的核心。此外，“水”主题是气候影响研究中涉及的许多问题的核心，包括陆地上的降水、饮用水和灌溉用水的可获得性，以及海平面上升。因此，本研究股讨论的主题对许多与气候有关的问题和社会经济问题至关重要。

The overarching theme of the Research Unit is the analysis and understanding of the freshwater budget of the ocean, including the role, which surface freshwater fluxes (net evaporation minus precipitation plus run-off and sea ice melting) play in changing the salt content in the upper ocean. The Research Unit focusses on the Atlantic, one of the key regions for climate relevant variability, and addresses, specifically, the questions of how and how much the upper Atlantic Ocean and the formation/melting of sea ice contribute to the global hydrological cycle. Work of the Research Unit is, therefore, also concerned with the oceans role in the global hydrological cycle and with the impact of a changing hydrological cycle on the oceans salinity, density and circulation fields. These questions are at the heart of research activities fostered by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and its sub-programmes CLIVAR and GEWEX. Moreover, the subject "water" is central to many questions dealt with under climate impact studies, including precipitation over land, the availability of water for drinking and irrigation, but also sea level rise. The theme addressed in this Research Unit is, therefore, essential for many climate-related and socio-economic questions.