← LeaderboardsInvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Earth And Space Research
Seattle, WA
$21,614,865
Total funding
57
Grants
Funding over time
peak $4M · FY2005–22$5M$3.8M$2.5M$1.3M$0
'05
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
Funding mix
By agency
NASA$14,357,707 · 27
NSF$5,812,914 · 25
DOD$1,444,244 · 5
By mechanism
—$21,614,865 · 57
Investigators at Earth And Space Research
InvestigatorsiAttributed = a PI's even-split share of each grant — a $1M grant with 2 PIs counts $500K each.
Exposure= the full size of every grant they're on ($1M each).
Rising Stars
First grant in the last 5 yrs
Not enough data
Emerging Leaders
6–10 yrs in
Not enough data
All-Time
Most funded here, all years
Not enough data
Largest grants
THIS PROJECT IS AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MOVEABLE NATURE OF MARINE ECO-REGIONS (DYNAMIC BIOGEOGRAPHY) AT AN UNPRECEDENTED SPATIAL SCALE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC USING UNIQUE BIOLOGICAL DATASETS IN CONJUNCTION WITH NASA-BASED SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF OCEANOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS (CURRENTS EDDIES SSTS). LARGE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS (LME) ARE LARGE (OFTEN>200 000 KM2) REGIONS OF THE OCEAN STRUCTURED BY SIMILAR ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS CONTAINING SIMILAR BIOTIC COMMUNITIES. THEY ARE ASSUMED TO BE STATIONARY AND MOSTLY REFLECT COASTAL/ CONTINENTAL SHELF REGIONS. THERE IS MOUNTING EVIDENCE THAT LME CLASSIFICATIONS MAY BE INAPPROPRIATE FOR INTERPRETATIONS OF LOWFREQUENCY CHANGE SUCH AS OCEAN WARMING ASSOCIATED WITH ANTHROPOGENIC CLIMATE CHANGE. FURTHERMORE LME OFTEN LACK KEY INFORMATION ON MESOSCALE VARIABILITY IN OCEANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES THAT DRIVE PRODUCTIVITY ACROSS TROPHIC LEVELS. A NEW APPROACH IS DESIRED. MESO-MARINE ECOSYSTEMS (MME) HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED FOR SUB-REGIONS OF THE SUBARCTIC NORTH PACIFIC DEFINED BY MULTIVARIATE ANALYSES OF PHYTOPLANKTON AND ZOOPLANKTON COMMUNITY COMPOSITION. MME ARE TIED TO SOME STATIC BOUNDARIES (SHELF AREAS) BUT ALSO TO OCEANOGRAPHIC FEATURES SUCH AS EDDY FORMATIONS SO THEY MAY MOVE WITH VARIABLE OCEAN CONDITIONS. THE NORTH PACIFIC CONTINUOUS PLANKTON RECORDER (CPR) PROGRAM HAS BEEN COLLECTING LOWER TROPHIC LEVEL SAMPLES ALONG A 6 500 KM ROUTE FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA TO JAPAN AS WELL AS TRANSECTS RUNNING SOUTH TO NORTH IN THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC FROM 2000 TO PRESENT. FROM 2002 - 2007 COINCIDENT OBSERVATIONS OF MARINE BIRDS AND MAMMALS WERE ALSO COLLECTED. THESE DATA HAVE TYPICALLY BEEN PROCESSED WITH A RESOLUTION OF 74 KM. DURING THIS PROJECT ADDITIONAL SAMPLES WILL BE PROCESSED AT 18.5 KM RESOLUTION CREATING A DATABASE OF SMALL-SCALE PLANKTON OBSERVATIONS ACROSS THE PACIFIC BASIN COVERING OVER 15 YEARS SPECIFICALLY CHOSEN TO CAPTURE POTENTIAL HOTSPOTS OF ABUNDANCE OR DIVERSITY THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH MOVEABLE OCEANIC EDDIES AND OTHER CURRENT-BASED FEATURES.$1,124,317
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
BOUNDARY CURRENT AND MIXING PROCESSES IN THE HIGH LATITUDE OCEANS$1,062,115
· FY2008 · Department of the Navy
"STUDIES OF UPPER OCEAN DYNAMICS RELATED TO THE PACIFIC DECADAL OSCILLATION USING SATELLITE ALTIMETE$1,033,785
· FY2008 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET CONTAINS ENOUGH ICE TO RAISE GLOBAL SEA LEVEL BY ~58 M IF IT MELTED ENTIRELY. EVEN A 0.5 M SEA-LEVEL RISE CONTRIBUTION (~1% REDUCTION IN ICE-SHEET MASS) WHICH IS NOW REGARDED AS POSSIBLE ON TIME SCALES OF DECADES TO A CENTURY WOULD PRESENT A SIGNIFICANT THREAT TO COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES ONE SIGNIFICANT FACTOR INFLUENCING THE PROJECTED RATE OF MASS LOSS FROM THE GROUNDED PORTION OF THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET: CLIMATE-DRIVEN CHANGES IN THE THICKNESS AND MASS OF ITS ICE SHELVES THE FLOATING PORTIONS OF THE ICE SHEET WHERE IT COMES INTO CONTACT WITH THE OCEAN. CONTACT OF ICE SHELVES WITH THE SIDEWALLS AND LOCAL HIGH SPOTS ON THE SEABED EXERTS A BACK-STRESS ON THE GROUNDED ICE STREAMS AND GLACIERS THAT CARRY ICE INTO THE OCEAN. OBSERVATIONS AND MODELS CONFIRM THAT LOWERING OF THIS BACK-STRESS CAUSED BY REDUCTION OF ICE-SHELF VOLUME INCREASES DYNAMIC LOSS OF GROUNDED-ICE MASS AND CONSEQUENT SEA-LEVEL RISE. OUR TEAM HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED THE LONGEST AND MOST HIGHLY-RESOLVED RECORD OF SPACE- AND TIMEDEPENDENT HEIGHT CHANGE FOR THE 85% OF TOTAL ICE-SHELF AREA THAT WAS COVERED BY ESA S RADAR ALTIMETER (RA) SATELLITES UP TO 2012 [PAOLO ET AL. 2015 SCIENCE]. THIS 18-YEAR RECORD SHOWS THAT ICE SHELVES ARE CHANGING ON A BROAD RANGE OF TIMESCALES FROM ANNUAL TO DECADAL AND LIKELY LONGER. THE PROPOSED STUDY IS ORGANIZED AROUND THREE GOALS: (1) DEVELOP TECHNIQUES TO EXTEND THE ICE-SHELF HEIGHT RECORD THROUGH THE ESA S CURRENT CRYOSAT-2 RA MISSION AND THE EARLY YEARS OF NASA S ICESAT-2 LASER ALTIMETER MISSION (LAUNCH IN LATE 2017); (2) IDENTIFY CLIMATE MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTING TO INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY IN ICE-SHELF VOLUME SEEN IN THE EXTENDED TIME SERIES; AND (3) ESTIMATE THE CONTRIBUTION OF FRESHWATER FLUX TO THE SOUTHERN OCEAN FROM ICE-SHELF VOLUME CHANGES. BY COMPARING THE TIME AND SPACE VARIABILITY OF ICE-SHELF HEIGHT WITH MEASURED AND MODELED CHANGES IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN WE WILL IDENTIFY WHICH PROCESSES HAVE THE LARGEST EFFECT ON ICE-SHELF THICKNESS AND THEREFORE ON THE BUTTRESSING EFFECT ON THE ADJACENT GROUNDED ICE. THERE ARE VERY FEW SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEAN STATE DURING THE SAME PERIOD THAT ICE-SHELF HEIGHT DATA ARE AVAILABLE AND SO OUR CLIMATE INFORMATION WILL COME FROM EXISTING MODELS: ATMOSPHERIC REANALYSIS PRODUCTS FOR THE SAME PERIOD AS WE HAVE ICE-SHELF HEIGHT DATA (1994-PRESENT); GLOBAL OCEAN STATE MODELS SUCH AS ECCO-2; AND GLOBAL COUPLED CLIMATE MODELS DEVELOPED FOR THE IPCC AR5 REPORT. THE DAILY OBSERVATIONAL RECORD OF SEA-ICE CONCENTRATION (1979-PRESENT) PROVIDES FURTHER GUIDANCE ON VARIABILITY IN BOTH THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN. THIS STUDY DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE 2016 ROSES CALL FOR A.16: STUDIES WITH ICESAT AND CRYOSAT-2. WE WILL CARRY OUT COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF ICESAT ERS/ENVISAT OIB CRYOSAT-2 AND EARLY YEARS OF ICESAT-2 MEASUREMENTS OVER ICE SHELVES AND USE DATA FROM OTHER SATELLITE SENSORS (INCLUDING SSM/I SEA ICE CONCENTRATIONS) TO AUGMENT THESE STUDIES. INITIAL COMPARISONS BETWEEN EXISTING LASER ALTIMETER (ICESAT AND OIB) AND RA DATA WILL FACILITATE RAPID INTEGRATION OF ICESAT-2 DATA AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. THIS EFFORT WILL GENERATE LONGTERM CONTINUOUS HOMOGENEOUS RECORDS OF CHANGE IN THE POLAR ICE SHEETS CONTRIBUTING TO CONTINUITY OF THE ANTARCTIC ICE-SHELF CHANGE RECORD INTO THE ICESAT-2 ERA. BY COMPARING THESE RECORDS WITH CLIMATE REANALYSIS AND PREDICTIVE MODELS WE WILL ALSO QUANTIFY THE PROCESSES CAUSING CHANGES IN POLAR ICE ESPECIALLY TO IDENTIFY THE RESPONSE OF ANTARCTIC ICE SHELVES TO CLIMATE FORCING AND DEVELOP OUR PROCESS UNDERSTANDING TO IMPROVE PREDICTIVE MODELS. THE STUDY CONTRIBUTES TO NASA'S STRATEGIC PLAN OBJECTIVE GOAL 2.2 TO ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE OF EARTH AS A SYSTEM TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND TO IMPROVE LIFE ON OUR PLANET$953,819
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
"ANTARCTIC SEA ICE: ASSESSING CONTRIBUTIONS OF TIDES AND INERTIAL RESPONSE TO SEA-ICE VARIABILITY USING SATELLITE PASSIVE MICROWAVE REMOTE SENSING AN$832,163
· FY2008 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON THE SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPED FOR THE MULTI-SENSOR IMPROVED SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURE (MISST) FOR IOOS PROJECT (2011-2017). THE PROPOSED WORK WILL PICK UP WHERE MISST LEFT OFF IN 2017 WITH MANY OF THE SAME OBJECTIVES; THEREFORE WE WILL REFER TO THE NEW PROJECT IN THIS PROPOSAL AS MISST AS WELL. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS NEW PROJECT ARE TO (I) CONTINUE TO IMPROVE DATA DISTRIBUTION AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIP ACTIVITIES (II) INCORPORATE NEW 2 USE OR DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS SHEET IS SUBJECT TO THE RESTRICTION ON THE COVER PAGE OF THIS PROPOSAL. SATELLITE DATA AND NEW ALGORITHMS FOR SST ANALYSIS AND (III) FOCUS ON IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF SATELLITE-DERIVED SSTS IN THE ARCTIC.$819,716
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET MASS BUDGET IS DOMINATED BY ACCUMULATION THROUGH SNOWFALL AND DYNAMIC LOSS TO THE OCEANS VIA THE GRAVITATIONALLY FORCED FLOW OF ICE STREAMS AND GLACIERS. ANTARCTICA IS CURRENTLY PROVIDING A SMALL CONTRIBUTION (~+0.2 MM/YEAR) TO TOTAL GLOBAL SEA LEVEL RISE OF ~+3.2 MM/YEAR. HOWEVER BASED ON PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGE PALEO ANALOGS AND RECENT MODELING ITSCONTRIBUTION MAY INCREASE DRAMATICALLY BY LATER IN THE 21ST CENTURY.MOST MASS LOSS FROM THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET ULTIMATELY OCCURS FROM THE ICE SHELVES THE FLOATING EXTENSIONS OF INLAND GLACIERS AND ICE STREAMS. ICE SHELVES CAN ACT TO "BUTTRESS" LAND-ICE LOSS: RECENT OBSERVATIONS SHOW THAT REDUCTIONS IN EXTENT AND/OR THICKNESS OF AN ICESHELF CAN BE FOLLOWED BY ACCELERATION AND SURFACE DRAWDOWN OF THE ADJACENT GROUNDED GLACIERS AND ICE STREAMS INCREASING GLOBAL SEA LEVEL. CHANGING ICE SHELF EXTENT AND THICKNESS IMPACTS COASTAL ANTARCTIC CIRCULATION INCLUDING FLUXES OF FRESHWATER AND DENSE SHELF WATER THAT ARE SUBSEQUENTLY DISTRIBUTED TO THE BROADER SOUTHERN OCEAN AND BEYOND. ICE SHELF VARIABILITY THEREFORE HAS AFFECTS SEA-LEVEL RISE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE SEA ICE THE OCEAN CONVEYOR BELT THE GLOBAL CLIMATE SYSTEM AND ANTARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS. ICE SHELVES ARE ALSO SENSITIVE INDICATORS OF CHANGES IN OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC FORCING ACTING ON MARINE-TERMINATING GLACIER AND ICE-STREAM SYSTEMS. WITHTHESE INFLUENCES IN MIND THE GOALS OF OUR PROPOSED STUDIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:PRIMARY PROJECT GOALS: DEVELOP A DETAILED HISTORY OF ANTARCTIC ICE SHELF MASS AND STRESS CHANGES ON SEASONAL-TO-INTERANNUAL TIME SCALES AND SMALL SPATIAL SCALES; IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES THAT CAUSE THESE CHANGES; AND ASSESS WHETHER PROXIES FOR VARIABILITY OF THE ICE SHELF MASS BUDGET CAN BE OBTAINED FROM COARSE-GRID GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS (GCMS).OUR MAIN DATA SOURCES FOR THIS STUDY ARE: ICESAT-1 LASER ALTIMETER DATA (2003-2009); OPERATION ICEBRIDGE (OIB) AIRBORNE LASER ALTIMETER AND RADIO ECHO SOUNDING (RES) ICE THICKNESS DATA (2009-PRESENT); CRYOSAT-2 RADAR ALTIMETER (RA) DATA (2010-PRESENT); AND EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA) RA SATELLITES ERS-1 ERS-2 AND ENVISAT (1992-2012). THESE WILL BE AUGMENTED WITH GEOSAT (1985-1989) MODIS VISIBLE IMAGERY SSM/I AND AMSR-E SEA ICE CONCENTRATIONS ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN REANALYSIS MODELS GCMS AND AS REQUIRED EXISTING IN SITU DATA SETS SUCH AS ICE-SHELF GPS AND OCEAN HYDROGRAPHY AND VELOCITY RECORDS.WE PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING CLOSELY INTER-RELATED ACTIVITIES.1) DEVELOP ACCURATE CONTINUOUS AND HIGH-RESOLUTION (IN SPACE X AND TIME T) RECORDS OF SURFACE ELEVATION H(X T) FOR ALL ANTARCTIC ICE SHELVES FROM 1992 TO NEAR THE END OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IN 2016 INCLUDING SEEKING METHODS FOR HETEROGENEOUS MULTI-SATELLITE ALTIMETER DATA INTEGRATION.2) INVESTIGATE WHETHER OBSERVATIONS OF FINE-SCALE ICE SHELF TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES CAN IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF CHANGES IN SPECIFIC MASS BALANCE TERMS AND STRESS FIELDS. FOR THIS ACTIVITY WE WILL FOCUS ON TWO ICE SHELVES REPRESENTING LIMITS OF CURRENT ICE SHELF STATE; ONELARGE AND PRESENTLY STABLE AND ONE SMALLER AND CURRENTLY THINNING RAPIDLY.3) RELATE OBSERVED VARIABILITY OF H(X T) ICE SHELF MASS BALANCE TERMS AND FINE-SCALE TOPOGRAPHY TO CHANGES IN THE OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE RESOLVED BY GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS (GCMS).WE WILL ALSO SUPPORT COLLEAGUES' ANALYSES OF GREENLAND ICE SHELVES WHICH ALTHOUGH RELATIVELY FEW AND SMALL MAY PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLES IN THE RESPONSE OF THE NORTHERN GREENLAND ICE SHEET TO OCEAN CHANGE.THE PROPOSED WORK DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE PROGRAM GOALS DESCRIBED IN THE 2012 NASA ROSES CALL FOR A.49 STUDIES WITH ICESAT AND CRYOSAT 2 AND NASA'S STRATEGIC GOAL 2 OBJECTIVE 2.1.5 TO "IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLES OF THE OCEAN ATMOSPHERE LAND AND ICE IN THE CLIMATE SYSTEM AND IMPROVE PREDICTIVE CAPABILITY FOR ITS FUTURE EVOLUTION".$763,807
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE DIRECT MOMENTUM TRANSFER FROM THE ATMOSPHERE TO THE OCEAN ACROSS THE UPPER OCEAN BOUNDARY LAYER. ACCURATE CALCULATION OF T$680,412
· FY2010 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ICE SHELVES PLAY MAJOR ROLES IN CONTROLLING THE RATE AT WHICH MASS IS LOST FROM THE GROUNDED ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET VIA ICE STREAMS AND GLACIERS BECAUSE$680,066
· FY2010 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE CRUCIAL ROLES OF SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) IN EARTH S CLIMATE SYSTEM AS AN INDICATOR OF GLOBAL WATER CYCLE CHANGE AND AN AGENT IN UPPER OCEAN MIXING/STABILITY OFTEN GOES UNSUNG. NASA S AQUARIUS AND SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE (SMAP) SATELLITES ARGO ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL MODELS AND FIELD CAMPAIGNS LIKE THE SALINITY PROCESSES IN THE UPPER OCEAN REGIONAL STUDY (SPURS-1) IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC AND SPURS-2 IN THE TROPICAL PACIFIC HAVE CHANGED THIS. IN RECENT DECADES HIGH-RAINFALL LOW-LATITUDE REGIONS HAVE FRESHENED WHILE DRY SUBTROPICAL ZONES SHOW INCREASED SSS. THIS SIGNALS AMPLIFICATION OF THE GLOBAL WATER CYCLE A SYMPTOM OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THE DYNAMICAL ROLE OF SSS IN AIR-SEA INTERACTIONS IS MORE COMPLEX. IT DEPENDS ON AND AFFECTS OCEAN HEAT CONTENT. HEAT AND SALT CONTROL SURFACE DENSITY AND SUBSURFACE STRATIFICATION WHICH CONSTRAIN THE SURFACE MIXED LAYER. THE LATTER INFLUENCES AIR-SEA FLUXES AND MOST OCEAN DYNAMICS. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT SSS VARIABILITY MAY EVEN INFLUENCE CLIMATE MODES SUCH AS THE EL NI O-SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) AND NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION (NAO) BUT MORE WORK IS NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND THESE INTERACTIONS UPPER OCEAN SALINITY BUDGETS HELP TO UNDERSTAND SSS VARIABILITY AND FEEDBACKS TO CLIMATE YET ANALOGOUS-BUT-METHODOLOGICALLYDIFFERENT STUDIES YIELD DIFFERENT RESULTS. ALL METHODS FOR ESTIMATING BUDGETS HAVE LIMITS AND TO OUR KNOWLEDGE NO COMPREHENSIVE STUDIES OF SOURCES OF SALINITY BUDGET ERROR HAVE BEEN DONE. WE WILL: 1) INVESTIGATE PROCESSES CONTROLLING SURFACE SALINITY PATTERNS AND VARIABILITY IN HIGH AND LOW SALINITY REGIMES. 2) EVALUATE SALINITY BUDGET SENSITIVITY TO DATASET OR MODEL CHOICE AND RELATED SOURCES OF ERROR SUCH AS SAMPLING / RESOLUTION THAT OBSCURES PROCESSES ON LARGE OR SMALL SPATIAL SCALES. 3) INVESTIGATE DYNAMICAL IMPACTS OF UPPER OCEAN SALINITY ON AIR-SEA INTERACTIONS THAT CHARACTERIZE IMPORTANT WEATHER AND CLIMATE PHENOMENA. WE WILL USE MULTIPLE NASA SUPPORTED SATELLITE IN SITU AND MODEL-BASED ASSIMILATION DATA PRODUCTS AND A VERY HIGH RESOLUTION GLOBAL MODEL TO STUDY SSS BUDGETS AND INVESTIGATE SOURCES OF BUDGET ERROR ON SUBMONTHLY INTRASEASONAL SEASONAL AND INTERANNUAL TIMESCALES IN THE (A) LOW SALINITY TROPICAL PACIFIC WHERE ENSO OCCURS AND SPURS-2 IS CONDUCTED; (B) HIGH SALINITY NORTH ATLANTIC WHERE THERE THE NAO OCCURS AND SPURS-1 TOOK PLACE. WE ALSO PROPOSE TO: 4) CREATE A TIME-EXTENDED HIGH-RESOLUTION GLOBAL SSS PRODUCT THAT IS MORE ACCURATE THAN THOSE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE BY BLENDING ALL AVAILABLE SATELLITE SSS DATA AND IN SITU OBSERVATIONS. THIS PRODUCT WILL COMBINE THE GLOBAL SPATIOTEMPORAL COVERAGE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA AND THE ACCURACY OF IN SITU DATA AND COVER A LONGER TIME SPAN THAN IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FROM SSS SATELLITE DATASETS. IT WILL BE USED IN SUPPORT OF OBJECTIVES 1-3 AND MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. TOPICS WE ADDRESS ARE ALSO AT THE HEART OF THE SPURS MISSIONS. WE WISH TO USE RESOURCES AT OUR TEAM S DISPOSAL EXPERTISE WITH SSS SATELLITE DATA ANALYSIS OF BUDGETS FROM STATE ESTIMATES AND MODELS AND ANALYSIS OF UPPER OCEAN CURRENTS TO PROVIDE COMPLEMENTARY ANALYSES AND BUDGET ERROR ESTIMATES OVER THE GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS ENCOMPASSING THE SPURS SITES. OUR SPATIOTEMPORAL SCALES OF EMPHASIS OVERLAP WITH BUT ARE NOT IDENTICAL TO THOSE OF SPURS YET ARE COMPATIBLE WITH SPURS AND US CLIVAR INTEREST IN UNDERSTANDING THE OCEAN RESPONSE TO FRESHWATER FORCING DUE TO CLIMATE AND THE NATURE OF THE CASCADE OF SALINITY VARIANCE ON ALL SCALES. THIS WORK HAS CRUCIAL RAMIFICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL SSS PATTERNS THEIR ROLES IN THE GLOBAL WATER CYCLE AND CLIMATE DYNAMICS AND THUS FOR IMPROVING PREDICTION CAPABILITIES.$585,760
· FY2017 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
DEVELOPMENT OF OSCAR WIND DRIVEN OCEAN CURRENTS IN THE NEW CONSTELLATION AND ACROSS DECADES THE OCEAN SURFACE CURRENTS ANALYSES-REALTIME PROCESSING S$583,623
· FY2014 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
E014042- VARIABILITY OF THE NORTHERN NORTH ATLANTIC SEA SURFACE SALINITY AND THE ROLE OF ARCTIC FRESHWATER TRANSPORT.$578,752
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THE GOAL OF THIS 3-YEAR STUDY IS TO EXTEND AND TO IMPROVE THE EXISTING SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) SATELLITE DATA VALIDATION FRAMEWORK BEYOND THE NASA AQUARIUS MISSION THUS SUPPORT NASAS PROGRAM TO CONTINUE OCEAN SALINITY SCIENCE. AQUARIUS WAS NASAS FIRST MISSION DEDICATED TO MEASURING SSS AND COLLECTED 45 MONTHS OF GLOBAL DATA UNTIL AN ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION ON THE SATELLITE ENDED THE MISSION IN EARLY JUNE 2015. EARTH AND SPACE RESEARCH (ESR) TOOK THE LEADING ROLE FOR AQUARIUS SSS DATA VALIDATION AND ERROR ANALYSIS. ESR DEVELOPED THE AQUARIUS VALIDATION DATA SYSTEM (AVDS) AS A PRINCIPAL TOOL FOR THE AQUARIUS SCIENCE DATA VALIDATION RESEARCH. THE AVDS IS A REPOSITORY OF OCEANOGRAPHIC IN SITU SSS DATA AND DATA PROCESSING TOOLS TO MATCH THESE OBSERVATIONS WITH AQUARIUS SATELLITE LEVEL 2 AND LEVEL 3 SCIENCE DATA SETS. THE WORK PROPOSED HERE WILL APPLY THE SAME PRINCIPLES TO THE CURRENTLY OPERATING SALINITY-OBSERVING SATELLITES: THE NASA SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE (SMAP) AND THE ESA SOIL MOISTURE OCEAN SALINITY (SMOS) MISSIONS. ESR PROPOSES TO ENHANCE THE AVDS TO A MORE VERSATILE SALINITY VALIDATION DATA SYSTEM (SVDS) THAT WILL SUPPORT QUANTITATIVE VALIDATION AND INTER-COMPARISON ANALYSES FOR ALL THREE OF THESE SATELLITE SALINITY DATA SETS. THE PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF SVDS SHALL BE: 1. INDIVIDUAL SATELLITE INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION AS WELL AS INTER-INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION BETWEEN MISSIONS WHERE PRACTICAL 2. OPEN PUBLIC ACCESS TO SALINITY MATCH-UP DATA FOR SALINITY RESEARCHERS 3. NEAR-REAL-TIME VALIDATION ANALYSIS OF SALINITY FROM ACTIVE SALINITY MISSIONS THE VALIDATION WILL ALSO ADDRESS SEA SURFACE DENSITY/SPICINESS WHICH IS CALCULATED FROM SMAP-SSS AND ANCILLARY SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE DATA. IT IS ALSO OUR OBJECTIVE TO SUMMARIZE THE UNCERTAINTIES FOR SALINITY MEASUREMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN STUDIED BY DIFFERENT RESEARCH GROUPS. THE WORK WILL ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLES OF UNCERTAINTIES IN CAUSING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OBSERVED SSS AND REFERENCE SSS. IN THIS PROPOSAL WE PROPOSE TO: 1) DEVELOP THE NEW SVDS BASED ON THE ARCHITECTURE LEGACY OF THE AVDS 2) CONTINUE THE VALIDATION FOR SATELLITE SEA SURFACE SALINITY OBSERVATIONS 3) SUPPORT THE ALGORITHM AND VALIDATE THE SEA SURFACE DENSITY AND SPICINESS DATA 4) SUMMARIZE KNOWN UNCERTAINTIES FOR SALINITY MEASUREMENTS$556,146
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Collaborative Research: Upper ocean heat flux in the Eurasian Basin: Oceanic thermodynamic forcing contributing to Arctic ice loss$544,222
· FY2012 · GEO
Collaborative Research: AnSlope, Cross-slope exchanges at the Antarctic Slope Front$513,475
· FY2002 · GEO
RATIONALE: THE ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET LOSES METEORIC ICE BY BASAL MELTING AND PRODUCTION OF LARGE TABULAR AND SMALLER SLIVER ICEBERGS FROM ITS ICE SHELVES. AVERAGED OVER SEVERAL DECADES THE CALVING FLUX IS ABOUT 50% OF TOTAL ICE SHEET LOSS BUT IS HIGH$503,408
· FY2021 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
THIS PROPOSAL CONTINUES THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTINUOUS AND CONSISTENT HIGH-QUALITY HIGH-RESOLUTION SSS TIME SERIES FROM MULTI-SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS.$499,107
· FY2022 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mesoscale Circulation, Tides and Mixing on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Shelf: A Component of WINDSSOCK (ESR proposal #99-48)$485,468
· FY2000 · GEO
Dependence of Antarctic sea-ice extent on mesoscale ocean variability in the Southern Ocean$464,384
· FY2014 · GEO
OBJECTIVE: ANTARCTIC SEA ICE EXTENT (SIE) HAS EXPERIENCED A SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE TREND OVER THE ERA FOR WHICH MEASUREMENTS OF SEA ICE CONCENTRATION ARE AVAILABLE (1979-PRESENT). THIS TREND IS CONTRARY TO MOST GLOBAL INDICATORS OF ICE EXTENT AND MASS CHANGE AND IS ALSO CONTRARY TO PREDICTIONS BY COUPLED CLIMATE MODELS. THE POSITION OF THE EDGE OF THE ICE PACK SHOWS VARIABILITY RELATED TO OCEAN EDDIES GENERATED BY UNSTABLE FLOW OF THE ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT (ACC). THIS EDDY-SCALE VARIABILITY IN THE SEA ICE POINTS TO INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE EDDIES AND THE ICE THAT MAY PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SETTING SIE AND THE RATE AT WHICH SEA ICE MASS IS LOST AT THE ICE EDGE. OUR OBJECTIVES ARE TO: (1) DOCUMENT THE REGIONAL AND INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF THE EDDY CONTRIBUTION TO ICE EDGE POSITION; (2) RELATE THESE STATISTICS TO KNOWN MODES OF GLOBAL CLIMATE VARIABILITY; (3) UNDERSTAND AND QUANTIFY THE PHYSICS OF EDDY/ICE INTERACTIONS INCLUDING OCEAN/ICE STRESSES AND HEAT FLUXES TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF EDDIES IN SEA-ICE MASS BALANCE; AND (4) USE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO PREDICT CHANGES IN THE ROLE OF EDDIES FOR PROJECTED FUTURE STATES OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. METHODS&TECHNIQUES: WE WILL ANALYZE SATELLITE-DERIVED SEA ICE CONCENTRATION FROM A VARIETY OF PASSIVE MICROWAVE SENSORS (SSM/I AMSR-E AND AMSR-2) TO QUANTIFY THE EDDY CONTRIBUTION TO ICE-EDGE POSITION. THESE ANALYSES WILL BE PERFORMED ON DAILY SATELLITE DATA FOR AUSTRAL WINTER PERIODS (MAY-NOVEMBER INCLUSIVE) WHEN THE ANTARCTIC SEA-ICE PACK IS EXTENSIVE AND THE ICE EDGE IS CLEARLY DEFINED. THE STATISTICS OF THE EDDY CONTRIBUTION INCLUDING TYPICAL SPATIAL SCALES AND EDDY PROPAGATION SPEEDS WILL BE ANALYZED BY REGIONS RELATED TO DIFFERENT LARGE-SCALE CONTROLS OF ICE FRONT POSITION INCLUDING MAJOR ACC FRONTS AND UNDERLYING BATHYMETRY. THE INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF THESE STATISTICS WILL THEN BE CORRELATED WITH MAJOR CLIMATE MODES INCLUDING ENSO AND THE SOUTHERN ANNULAR MODE. WE WILL ANALYZE OUTPUT FROM THREE EXISTING COUPLED OCEAN/SEA-ICE MODELS INCLUDING THE NASA-FUNDED ECCO-V4R3. WE WILL USE OUTPUT FROM A HIGH-RESOLUTION EDDY-RESOLVING MODEL TO INVESTIGATE THE PHYSICS OF EDDY/ICE INTERACTIONS INCLUDING DYNAMIC CONTROLS (ADVECTION BY STRESS FROM EDDY VELOCITIES) AND THE THERMODYNAMIC MECHANISMS FOR AND MAGNITUDES OF HEAT AND FRESHWATER EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND ICE NEAR THE ICE EDGE. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COMPARED WITH OCEAN/ICE INTERACTIONS IN TWO OTHER OCEAN STATE ESTIMATE MODELS ONE THAT PARTIALLY RESOLVES EDDY PERTURBATIONS IN THE SEA ICE AND ANOTHER COARSER-RESOLUTION MODEL WHICH DOES NOT. THE RESULTS FROM ANALYSES OF THE HIGH-RESOLUTION MODEL WILL IDENTIFY WHETHER EDDY/ICE INTERACTIONS ARE SIGNIFICANT TO LARGE-SCALE ANTARCTIC SEA ICE PROPERTIES AND THE UPPER OCEAN. COMPARISON OF HIGH- AND LOWER-RESOLUTION MODELS WILL INFORM THE DIRECTION OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF CLIMATE MODELS AND APPROACHES THAT MIGHT BE TAKEN TO PARAMETERIZE UNDER-RESOLVED PROCESSES CONTROLLING THE EXTENT AND MASS BUDGET OF THE ANTARCTIC SEA-ICE PACK. SIGNIFICANCE: THE STUDY ADDRESSES PROCESSES AFFECTING THE MASS BALANCE AND EXTENT OF THE ANTARCTIC ICE PACK WHICH PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE AS AN INSULATOR BETWEEN THE HIGH-LATITUDE OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERE REDUCING SOLAR RADIATION INPUT AND GAS EXCHANGE AND ACTING AS A MEDIUM FOR TRANSPORT OF FRESHWATER NORTHWARDS FROM ANTARCTIC MARGINS. THE STUDY ADDRESSES CLIVAR S NEED FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND MODELING OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN POLAR REGIONS AND ITS GLOBAL IMPACT. OUR WORK WILL IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE CURRENT GENERATION OF THE NASA-FUNDED ECCO OCEAN STATE MODEL TOWARDS MOTIVATING FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS IN THIS VALUABLE COMMUNITY RESOURCE. IN ADDITION THE PROJECT WILL LAY GROUNDWORK FOR UTILIZING SEA-ICE FREEBOARD SEA-SURFACE HEIGHT AND ICE SHEET AND ICE SHELF SURFACE HEIGHT CHANGE OBSERVATIONS FROM NASA S ICESAT-2 LASER ALTIMETER SATELLITE WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH IN AUTUMN 2018.$458,937
· FY2020 · National Aeronautics and Space Administration