PARADIGM: The Partnership for Advancing Interdisciplinary Global Modeling - Year 4 Annual Report

Abstract

To improve our understanding of the mean state, seasonal cycle, and natural interannual to decadal variability of global and basin-scale biogeographical patterns. Why do different ecosystems reside where they do? What combination of forcing and biological responses drives the observed long-term variability and apparent ecosystem regime shifts? The intrinsic scales of ocean ecology are set by the growth and removal of phytoplankton, with time-constants of one to a few days. Our project scope, therefore, encompasses the range of coupled dynamics of ocean ecology, biogeochemistry, and physics on scales from sub-diurnal to multi-decadal and submesoscale to global. The project is divided into four major scientific themes, with associated fundamental questions: 1) Biogeochemical cycles. What factors govern phytoplankton biomass, productivity and export, the net remineralization of organic matter below the euphotic zone, and the spatial (e.g., biogeographical regimes) and temporal (e.g., climate regime shifts) variations in these global processes? 2) Community structure. What processes govern plankton community structure and function and how do physical-chemical-biological interactions influence biogeochemical processes in the ocean system? 3) Scales of physical forcing. How do mesoscale and sub-mesoscale physical variability impact ecosystem fluxes and community structure? 4) Advanced interdisciplinary models. How do we best merge observations and models?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA515176

Entities

People

  • Charles R. Mcclain
  • Dale B. Haidvogel
  • David M. Karl
  • Dennis J. Mcgillicuddy Jr.
  • Eileen E. Hofmann
  • Eric. P. Chassignet
  • Hugh Ducklow
  • James A. Yoder
  • John C. Kindle
  • John J. Cullen
  • Kenneth L. Denman
  • Lewis M. Rothstein
  • Mark R. Abbott
  • Michael Follows
  • Richard D. Smith
  • Scott C. Doney

Organizations

  • University of Rhode Island

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Bacteria
  • Chemistry
  • Climate Change
  • Continental Shelves
  • Ecology
  • Environment
  • Geography
  • Human Behavior
  • Interdisciplinary Science
  • Marine Biology
  • Marine Geology
  • Microorganisms
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Planetary Sciences
  • Rhode Island

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Marine Ecotoxicology
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Systems Analysis and Design