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)碳方面发挥着主导作用，但地球系统模型很难反映这一海-气交换过程的程度，其未来预测仍然高度不确定。氧气/氮气比和二氧化碳气载南大洋研究旨在促进对浩瀚南大洋的海洋-大气交换和吸收氧气和二氧化碳的物理和生物控制的了解。这将通过对南美洲南端和南极半岛西部附近不同生物地球化学区的大气O2、CO2、相关气体、它们的平衡状态以及其他海洋表面特性进行密集的航空调查来进行研究。虎鲸将利用配备了一套高精度就地和遥感仪器的国家科学基金会湾流V(GV)飞机，在仲夏从智利蓬塔阿雷纳斯起飞，在6周的时间里进行14次飞行，飞越德雷克海峡，同时飞越ARSV Lm Gill对Palmer LTER遗址进行采样。虎鲸的观测将以一套海洋生物地球化学模型为指导并用于测试，以增进我们对这一采样但气候重要的世界区域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.