Organization:
Research Title: World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
Funding Level (millions of dollars):
| FY94 | 17.1 |
|---|---|
| FY95 | 17.9 |
| FY96 | 17.8 |
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Component:
(a) Subcommittee: Global Change Subcommittee (100%)
NSTC Committee on Fundamental Science
(b) Environmental Issue: Climate Change(70%) Natural Variability (30%)
(c) Research Activity: System Structure and Function: Observe (70%),
Understand
(20%), Predict (10%)
Organizational Component:
Ocean Sciences Division
NSF,
Physical Oceanography
Program
OCE/NSF, Room 725
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
Point of Contact:
Richard Lambert
Phone: 703-306-1583
E-Mail:
rlambert@nsf.gov
Research Goals:
The principal goals of WOCE are to understand the global ocean circulation well
enough
to
model its present state and predict its evolution and relate them to long-term
climate
change,
and to provide a scientifically sound strategy for continued monitoring of the ocean
following its conclusion. Knowledge of ocean circulation is critical to climate,
as well as to
other oceanographic programs, since it controls the transports of heat and other
biological
and chemical constituents.
Research Description:
WOCE consists of three core programs: 1. Global Description; 2. Southern Ocean; and
3.
Gyre Dynamics and Process Studies. WOCE field programs began formally in 1990,
and
will continue through 1997. Under Core 1, a 30-year time series station is being
continued
in the Atlantic, and a second one in the Pacific has been initiated, both in
collaboration
with
JGOFS. A one-time hydrographic description of the world ocean is underway, with
the
Pacific scheduled for completion in 1994. An intensive study of the Indian Ocean
in 1994-96 is being coordinated with a NOAA survey and JGOFS, and an Arabian Sea
Cooling
experiment (ONR), with major contributions from five countries. A planning
meeting,
held in October, 1993, will began planning for the North Atlantic. A joint program
involving NOAA/ACCP and WOCE, called the Atlantic Circulation and Climate
Experiment (ACCE) is currently under review, and expected to start in late 1996.
A major
modeling study of the Atlantic circulation was successfully completed, and studies
of
model physics and second phase GCM calculations continue. Under Core-3, studies
of
upper and intermediate ocean processes in the North Atlantic, with joint support
from
ONR, and with German, Canadian and UK participation, are providing new insight
on
the
role of mixing in the overall transport of heat. In the South Atlantic, WOCE
investigators
have discovered a convergence of the deep flow which will certainly shed light on
the age
and residence time of water in the deep basin. Under Core-2, modest efforts to
monitor
the
circulation of the circumpolar current have been initiated and some experiments in
the
Weddell Gyre have been supported by OPP. However, primary WOCE Core-2 plans
remain uncommitted.
Program Interfaces:
In the U.S., NSF has the lead for overall coordination and funding of WOCE.
NOAA
has
responsibility for a portion of the hydrographic program with specific emphasis on
chemical tracers and contributed to studies of Indonesian through-flow. ONR is
making
significant contributions to process studies. DOE supports CO-2 measurements in
the
ocean and NASA has responsibility for satellite observations and some large-scale
modeling. Internationally, WOCE is a key element of the WCRP, with support from
IOC,
SCOR, WMO, and ICSU, with science oversight provided by the CCCO (now merged
with JSC), and JSC, through an international Science Steering Group (SSG). The first
international scientific conference on WOCE was held in Paris in 1988 at which over
40
countries expressed their support for the program. Under IOC and WMO, an
Intergovernmental WOCE Panel (IWP) was established to garner governmental
commitments for WOCE. An international WOCE Program Office (IPO) was
established
at
IOS in Wormley, UK to support planning and implementation of international
aspects
of
the program. Many countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Japan,
Netherlands, Spain, Australia and the Former Soviet Union are contributing to the
various
science elements of WOCE.
Program Milestones:
Placement of additional drifting instrument buoys in Southern, Indian, and South
Atlantic
oceans by the end of 1995; (2) completion of the hydrographic survey of the Pacific
Ocean
and initiation of the Indian and Southern ocean surveys by the end of 1995; (3)
completion
of the Indian ocean component of the global calculation of meridional heat flux by
the end
of 1996 and (4) increased accuracy and precision in ocean circulation models and
better
linkage with global climate models to more accurately predict long-term climate
change.
Policy Payoffs:
Short and long-term payoffs include improved working
relations
with
maritime nations, especially the Indian Ocean countries. Also, a better assessment
and
understanding of the ocean effects on climate predictability should be available
within 2-3
years. This acquired knowledge is needed to design and build an effective GOOS.
The
long-term policy payoff is a better understanding of the deep ocean's role in the
response of
climate systems to natural and anthropogenic changes, on decadal to centennial
time
scales,
by running various scenarios in general circulation models. This information can
then be
fed into ecological models