VITALSVentilation,

Interactions

and Transports

Across the

Labrador Sea

SSC: Paul Myers - AlbertaBrad deYoung - Memorial Roberta Hamme - VictoriaJaime Palter - McGillJean-Eric Tremblay - LavalDoug Wallace - DalhousieBlair Greenan - DFO

http://knossos.eas.ualberta.ca/vitals/

Fisheries and

Oceans Canada

Peches et

Oceans Canada

VITALS Over-Arching Research Goal

To understand and model the functioning

and vulnerability of the Labrador Sea as a

key component of the Earth’s climate

system, including its uptake of oxygen,

carbon, and heat exchange with the

atmosphere.

Working Hypothesis

• Deep convection in the Labrador Sea, which

allows for exchange of oxygen and natural and

anthropogenic carbon to the deep ocean, is

sensitive to the warming that is taking place at

high latitudes.

– Validating and quantifying this sensitivity is central to

our research network and also the broader

community of climate change researchers and policy

makers interested in characterizing, and possibly

minimizing, the effects of global climate change

Builds on Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)Atlantic Zone Off-shelf Monitoring Program (AZOMP)

• AZOMP collects and analyzes physical, chemical and biological oceanographic observations on a line of stations across the Labrador Sea.

• The line, referred to as AR7W, is the Atlantic Repeat Hydrography Line 7 West of the 1990-2002 World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE).

• It has been occupied annually (typically in May) since 1990, with biological measurements since 1994.

• AZOMP is a DFO contribution to the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) and the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project (IOCCP).

• VITALS is complementing AZOMP core measurements.

• Improved understanding of processes generated by VITALS researchers will improve future interpretation of DFO monitoring results.

Three Scientific Themes

Theme 1: Breathing: How does the Labrador Sea take inputs from the Atlantic and a melting Arctic, modifythem via atmospheric exchange and local physical and biogeochemical processes to influence the export products?

Theme 2: Horizontal Exchange: How does lateral boundary/interior exchange, especially of freshwater, control and potentially limit the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and ocean?

Theme 3: Climate Representation and Future Evolution: How can we improve the ability of high-resolution numerical models to represent these exchange processes and their sensitivity to climate change?

Group I: Fixed in-situ Sampling Doug Wallace, Brad de Young, Roberta Hamme, Jody Klymak, Barry Ruddick, Partners: Uwe Send (Scripps), Igor Yashayaev (DFO), Arne Körtzinger, Johannes Karstensen, Martin Visbeck (GEOMAR), Rolls-Royce Canada

• Determine the annual cycle of O2, CO2 and relevant physical parameters in the Labrador Sea with two key mooring deployments (K1 and V1) and mobile platforms

• Relate the temporal and vertical changes of O2 and CO2 to key controls, including air-sea gas exchange, mixing dynamics (lateral and vertical), restratification, and biological production/consumption

• SeaCycler to be deployed from German vessel Maria S. Merianin September• Further Canada-Germany

collaboration

Brad de Young, Ralf Bachmayer, Jody Klymak, Jaime Palter, Barry Ruddick, Doug Wallace, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Evan Edinger, Claude Hillaire-Marcel Partners: Erica Head, Igor Yashayaev (DFO)

Team II: Mobile Sampling

Apply 4-5 Gliders, 5 EM-APEX Floats, Argo Floats with biogeochemical sensors to:

Explore the dynamics of freshwater and oxygen exchange along the Labrador Shelf Break

Characterize the spatial scales of convection and re-stratification in the Labrador Sea

Examine the horizontal exchange influencing properties at the central mooring

Photo credit: Robin Matthews, MUN

Summer 2014: Labrador Shelf Break survey

Salinity (ppt)

Oxygen (µmol kg-1)

Jean-Eric Tremblay, Roxane Maranger, Marcel Babin, Simon Bélanger (UQAR) Kumiko Azetsu-Scott Partners: Nicolas Cassar (Duke), Julie Granger (U. Connecticut), Maurice Levasseur, Connie Lovejoy (Laval) Bill Li, Erica Head, Igor Yashayev, Jeff Anning (DFO)

Team III: Biological Processes

• Determine how climate-sensitive physical processes (e.g. warming, convection and restratification) affect rates of primary production, respiration and nitrogen cycling across the Labrador Sea

• Provide direct rate measurements of major biological processes affecting O2, CO2, and N2O flux in the Labrador Sea, integrating remote sensing with ship-based measurements

• Better understand interactions between the biological pump and solubility pumps

Roberta Hamme, Doug Wallace, Kumiko Azetsu-Scott, Roxane Maranger Partner: Denis Gilbert (DFO)

Team IV: Gases

• Determine how competing processes control the carbon and oxygen budgets of newly formed deep-water

• Characterize the concentrations and air-sea fluxes of key greenhouse gases

• Measure dissolved gas and calibrate autonomous sensors

• Develop process models to simulate other years of convection and restratification

• Biogeochemical sensors placed on German K1 Mooring

Mitch WolfUVic student

Denis GilbertDFO Scientist

Roberta HammeUVic Faculty

Oxygen Dynamics from Profiling Floats in Lab Sea

ProfilingArgoFloat

Time Series of oxygen

Float Locations

How do winter convection, mixing, and the spring bloom control

deep-water oxygen?

Relating total oxygen to air-sea exchange

Jaime Palter, Markus Kienast, Barry Ruddick, Jean-Eric Tremblay, Anne de Vernal, Claude-Hillaire-Marcel, Evan Edinger, Roger Francois, Paul Myers Partner: Igor Yashayaev (DFO)

Team V: Historical Analysis

• Explore existing data to understand variability and provide context for new observations

• Compare with numerical simulations to validate physical and biogeochemical models

• Determine decadal variability in water mass properties (and oxygen availability) from proxy-records in corals and sediments (100-200 years)

Directly observed mid-depth velocity field

Deep-sea coral based paleoceanographyin the Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay

Evan Edinger, MUN

Claude Hillaire-Marcel, UQAMStudents & PDF’s: Barbara Neves, Sam Davin,

Lucie Ménabréaz, Jenny Maccali

*Part of paleoceanography team, led by Anne de Vernal, UQAM.

2010

collections

2007

2013

2016

2014

2015

2015

Paul Myers, Entcho Demirov, Brad de Young, Morris Flynn, Bruce Sutherland, Eric Galbraith, Jaime Palter, Andrea Scott Partners: Fraser Davidson, Youyu Lu (DFO), Greg Smith (EC), Nadja Steiner (DFO), Susan Allen (UBC, Geotraces), David Barber (Manitoba)

Team VI: Numerical Modelling

• Use high-resolution numerical models to represent gas cycles sensitive to climate change

• Determine the climate sensitivity of gas exchange, convection, re-stratification, and biogeochemical processes studied through the observational program

• Explore parameterizing key results so that they can be represented in coarser resolution coupled climate models.

• Significant sharing and collaboration on configurations and output– CREG025/12 – Concepts

– ANHA4/12 – provided to UBC, IOS, UManitoba, McGill, UVic, Waterloo

Eddy Resolving: 1/12 degree NEMOEddy Permitting: ¼ degree NEMOObserving System Simulation Experiment(s)

and Data AssimilationBiogeochemical: BLINGFilling Box Models:NS alpha-model:

Labrador Sea in ANHA12

Sea Ice Concen-tration

Velocity magnitude averaged over top 55 m

Mixed Layer Depth

Sea Ice Thickness

Low Probability High Probability

Using Ariane Forward Trajectory

Find where the freshwater runoff that leaves the fjords go

Gillard et al., 2015,

GRL, in prep.

Synergies with other initiatives

National and International

• Links 9 Universities in Canada with the University of Bremen in Germany

• Funds approximately 12 Ph.D.’s and 1-2 postdocs in each country

• Students required to have a co-supervisor at a partner institute and spend an extended period (3-12 months) at the partner institute

• 3 annual workshops on topics from Ocean-climate Science to science and stakeholder communication

Research Themes:• Sea Ice• Ocean Circulation• Land Ice

Transatlantic Research School

Ocean System Science & Technology

HalifaxKiel

Cape

Verde

EUR€1.8 millionCAN$3.2 million

Goal:

Convey technical and research skills in

ocean science and advanced

technologies, and promote informed

management of deep sea and open

ocean environments.

OSNAP - A Subpolar Measure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Observing System Strategy:

Agree on principles

Identify needs, opportunities, allies: set priorities, avoid over-reach

Mobilise and align multiple, multisectoral funding sources*

*(incl. international partnerships)

Principles• Use the 4 M’s *• Science-led (but involve people!) • Flexible, interoperable, relocatable• Concentrate on data sharing/ access• Plan for sustainability• Build on what exists (i.e. has survived)• Identify and promote RAD’s• Encourage international involvement• Explicit links to operational models• Explicit links to remote sensing

* Multidisciplinary, multisectoral, multipurpose, multinational

→Draft Strategy Paper:

Towards a Canadian Contribution to an

Integrated Atlantic Ocean Observing System

Identify and promote RAD’sResearcher Aggregating Devices:

Focus infrastructure, observations AND projects spatiallyIdeally where science and user needs intersectRequires discipline and compromise Regions must be carefully chosen: enough science for all?International and open

Fish Aggregating Device (FAD)

4 RADs and Their Motivations:

Baffin Bay / Davis Strait:GreenEdge project; Ice-cover and ecosystems; Arctic /freshwater transport; air-sea exchange

Labrador Sea:VITALS, OSNAPDeep-water formation, freshwater impacts, MOC, CO2, O2, acidification

Flemish Pass:MOC, heat flux, CO2 flux,biodiversity, deepwater oil

Scotian Shelf/Slope:MOC, acidification, deep circulation, biodiversity, deepwater oil; air-sea

Summary• VITALS seeks a mechanistic understanding of processes

(carbon/oxygen cycles, lateral exchange) in a region of global importance on Canada's doorstep

• Our hierarchy of modelling approaches will significantly improve our understanding of the Labrador Sea and its role in climate

• New observations will shed light on the evolution of the physical and biogeochemical properties for two annual cycles

• Novel sampling strategies and approaches, including data mining of three decades of historical and proxy data, will lead to a greater understanding of processes that are highly variable in space and time.

• VITALS synergistically partners with and builds upon existing long-term DFO Labrador Sea programs to provide a detailed understanding of processes for use by DFO in management decisions

• The central mooring uses unique Canadian technology and Canadian physical/biogeochemical sensors to provide a high-visibility showcase of advanced ocean technology and allow for technology transfer to Canadian companies

• This programs links, but does not overlap with, other major Canadian initiatives such as MEOPAR, CERC, HMRI and ArcticNet and international efforts such as OSNAP.