Planning status for UK SOLAS Fieldwork

21 January 2005

www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/thematics/solas

Overall aim:

To advance understanding of environmentally-significant interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, focusing on material exchanges that involve ocean productivity and atmospheric composition

What is UK SOLAS?

• NERC directed programme

• multi-institute and multidisciplinary

• provides the main national contribution to international SOLAS

• budget of £12.1m over 2004-09 (incl services, management & KT)

Conceptual summary of the UK SOLAS Science Plan

Ocean processes relevant to the atmosphere

Atmospheric processes relevant to the ocean

Ocean-atmosphere exchanges

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Time series, monitoring and remote sensing

Modeling and integration

UK SOLAS programme history and forward look

Ist Steering Committee meeting

Science Plan and first AO

Shortlisting of outlines

Workshops (& Halifax NS meeting)

Deadline for full bids

Expected decision on first round funding

Start of UK SOLAS research

First fieldwork

2004

2005

2006

Feb

June

Aug-Sept

Oct

Nov

April

May +

UK SOLAS research approaches: techniques & tools

Aircraft/ ship field campaigns

eg perturbation expt, atmos Lagrangian

Time-series & monitoring

eg island-based monitoring station

Lab/ mesocosm studies

eg trace gas production processes

Earth Observation

Hadley Centre model output

Global Modelling

2006 2007

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D

2006 2007

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D

Around British Isles

High latitude N Atlantic ‘AMT-like’ transect study

Region off NW Africa

Preliminary UK SOLAS fieldwork schedule(proposed in submitted bids)

UK SOLAS Marine and Atmospheric Observatory

Preferred site: Cape Verde

Back-trajectory for air masses Produced by Matt Evans, University of Leeds

1. Provide a regional focus for UK SOLAS field campaigns

2. To initiate long-term studies of inter-annual variability and trends in marine tropospheric composition and associated oceanographic factors at an open-ocean site

Fundamental aims:

Seek SC approval for Observatory at next SC meeting in April (2005).

If approved, activities at site are expected to begin some time in 2006

Potential links between UK SOLAS and AMMA-UK

Possibilities for cooperation between UK SOLAS and AMMA-UK during field studies may exist.

eg 1 - the export of biogenic emissions produced during the WAM to the marine troposphere could be assessed at the proposed UK SOLAS Observatory.

eg 2 - results collected during AMMA and DABEX could provide important information for UK SOLAS field-studies in the region off NW Africa and vice-versa.