Amazon PASI: an Observing System for the Amazon River-Coast-Shelf Transition Region
Shallow coastal regions of the Amazon River have been a no-man’s land of scientific investigation
The shallow coastal regions and lower stretch of the Amazon River have been a no-man’s land of scientific investigation into the hydrodynamics and evolving morphology of the linked land surfaces. Because of the vast quantity of river discharge, no salt water penetrates into the mouth, putting the zone out of the realm of estuarine oceanographers. However,the tides propagate almost 800 km upstream to the town of Obidos, violating the steady flow assumption of river geomorphologists. This transition region between the river and coastal ocean is vast in the Amazon but exists for all rivers-- and is a prime target for future investigation.
A Pan American Studies Institute (PASI; http://www.nsf.gov/od/iia/ise/) led by Stevens Institute of Technology in conjunction with University of Washington and a host of other US and Brazilian scientists brought together an international group of our brightest young scientists to learn what is known about the system, and to discuss the development of an observing system to transform our ability to understand this complex region. Two professors from University of Washington, Andrea Ogston and Chuck Nittrouer, developed lectures as part of the short course based on their prior research in both the Amazon system and around the world, and four University of Washington graduate students (Dan Nowacki, Aaron Fricke, and Emily Eidam from Oceanography; Maggie McKeon from CEE) participated in the course. A week of lectures and discussion at Universidade do Federal Fluminense located near Rio de Janiero overlooking Guanabara Bay and Corcovado was followed by a week-long field experience at the Universidade do Sao Paulo marine field station at Ubatuba, utilizing both a small research vessel and the ocean-class N/Oc Alpha Crusis.
A vision statement is being developed from discussions at the short course outlining an integrative project to investigate fluid and sediment dynamics through this complex Amazon tidal river with the goal of a multi-national, multi-disciplinary program with potential funding through a broad range of Brazilian and US, public and private, sources.
