CAREER: Ocean-atmosphere interactions through the lens of stable water isotopologues

未来海洋上降水和蒸发的大尺度空间模式将如何变化仍不确定。该项目将促进对水文循环的科学理解，以及它如何在热带太平洋的关键海洋和大气变量中存档数年至数世纪。它作为跨学科研究的一个重要例子，整合了海洋和大气对水文循环的观点，并结合了现代观测，模型模拟和古气候数据。该项目还将通过真正的研究型本科课程和NSF资助的STEMSEAS（科学，技术，工程和数学学生体验船上）计划为下一代地球科学劳动力提供指导和培训机会，该计划为来自不同背景的本科生提供基于船的6-10天探索体验。对这些活动的正式评估将为教师指导和真实的研究经验在知识获取方面的作用、学生自我认定为科学家的程度以及他们如何理解科学的本质提供证据。本项目的研究目标将通过测量来自帕劳和加拉帕戈斯的海水、降水和水蒸气中的稳定氧和氢同位素比率来实现。分别位于热带太平洋西部和东部。这些数据将揭示海水稳定同位素值和海表盐度之间的关系，与重建过去的盐度和降水减去蒸发量（P-E）同位素为基础的古气候代理的影响。该项目还将证明海水和降水中稳定同位素值代表P-E和步行者环流的纬向梯度的能力，这是解释大规模综合同位素古气候信息的必要信息。最后，它将解决海水中蒸发信号的性质，降水和水蒸气稳定同位素比，其结果对于同位素支持的水文模拟，基于同位素的古气候解释以及了解热带海洋边界层湿度的驱动因素非常重要。该奖项反映了NSF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。

How large-scale spatial patterns of precipitation and evaporation over the oceans will vary in the future remains uncertain. This project will advance scientific understanding of the hydrologic cycle and how it is archived in key oceanic and atmospheric variables over years to centuries in the tropical Pacific. It serves as a key example of interdisciplinary research that integrates oceanic and atmospheric perspectives on the hydrologic cycle and incorporates modern observations, model simulations, and paleoclimate data. This project will also provide mentoring and training opportunities for the next generation of the geoscience workforce through an authentic research-based undergraduate course and the NSF-funded STEMSEAS (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Student Experiences Aboard Ships) program, which provides ship-based, 6-10 day exploratory experiences for undergraduates from diverse backgrounds. The formal assessment of these activities will provide evidence for the role of faculty mentorship and authentic research experiences in knowledge attainment, the degree to which students self-identify as scientists, and how they understand the nature of science.The research goals of this project will be attained through measurement of stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in seawater, precipitation, and water vapor from Palau and the Galapagos, in the western and eastern tropical Pacific, respectively. These data will reveal the relationship between seawater stable isotope values and sea surface salinity, with implications for reconstructions of past salinity and precipitation minus evaporation (P-E) from isotope-based paleoclimate proxies. This project will also demonstrate the ability of stable isotope values in seawater and precipitation to represent zonal gradients of P-E and the Walker Circulation, necessary information for interpretation of large-scale syntheses of isotope-based paleoclimate information. Finally, it will address the nature of the evaporation signal in seawater, precipitation, and water vapor stable isotope ratios, the results of which are important for isotope-enabled hydrological simulations, isotope-based paleoclimate interpretations, and understanding the drivers of tropical marine boundary layer humidity, which has implications for clouds and climate feedbacks.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.