Banse Early Career Scientist Seminar 29 Nov 2023

Wednesday, November 29, 03:30 PM to 04:30 PM PST

Cara Nissen, University of Colorado, Boulder

Wednesday, November 29, 03:30 PM to 04:30 PM PT, with tea and cookies to follow
Ocean Sciences Building (OSB), Room 425

Title: Using synthetic observations to inform sampling strategies of ocean physics, biogeochemistry, and biology

Abstract:  Autonomous observing systems, such as profiling Argo floats, have been revolutionizing our understanding of oceanography. Yet, uncertainties remain about whether our current observing system captures the true spatio-temporal variability of physical, biogeochemical, and biological properties, which complicates the detection of long-term trends. Numerical models with synthetic observing systems offer one potential avenue to address these uncertainties. In this talk, I will discuss examples of how such synthetic observing systems are used to inform sampling network design and the interpretation of observational records. In particular, I will present the novel synthetic biogeochemical float capabilities of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 2. In different case studies, I will demonstrate the utility of this new tool in addressing existing uncertainties of the current Core, Deep and BGC Argo float networks related to, e.g., sampling density, sampling frequency, and float positioning.