978-0-9553862-1-3
0-9553862-1-7
Surface Ocean – Lower Atmosphere Studies
Ireland
Edited by
Colin O’Dowd
Environmental Change Institute & Department of Physics
National University of Ireland, Galway
Proceedings of 1st Irish SOLAS Workshop
1st National Report
SOLAS – Ireland
2005
Table of Contents
1.
Executive Summary
1
2.
The Goals of SOLAS
2
3.
Integrating Objective of SOLAS Ireland
4
4.
List of Attendees of 1st SOLAS Ireland workshop
5
5.
List of workshop presentations
6
6.
Research Summary: Ocean Impacts on Irish Climate
7
Regional Climate Modelling of Impacts of Marine Aerosols
8
Marine Hydrodynamics Modelling
9
Ocean Dynamics
10
Marine Biota: Algae-Atmosphere Interactions and Feedback on Climate
11
Atmospheric Chemistry Simulation Chamber
13
Measurements of Primary Marine Aerosol Fluxes at Mace Head
15
Mace Head as a SOLAS Research Facility
16
Marine Aerosol Production from Primary and Secondary Natural Sources (MAP) 17
SOLAS – Ireland
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1. Executive Summary
The 1st Irish SOLAS meeting was held in National University of Ireland, Galway on April 5th 2005.
The objective of the meeting was to bring together the Irish scientific research communities relevant to
SOLAS objectives; to consolidate our ocean-atmosphere research into an Irish SOLAS framework; and
to serve as a platform to generate awareness of related research across different disciplines. The
meeting demonstrated Ireland’s capabilities in marine biogeochemistry, ocean dynamics, atmospheric
physics and chemistry, and marine meteorology. The oceanic and atmospheric observing capability
and large-scale modelling systems already enabled in ocean and atmospheric modelling was also
demonstrated. It was concluded that Irish researchers are well poised to contribute significantly to
SOLAS-related key process studies which would underpin the future development of an integrating
large-scale ocean-atmosphere-climate modelling system for use in both quantitative and predictive
purposes in a cross- and multi-disciplinary manner, integrating biological, chemical and physical
processes essential to understanding the effect of natural systems on future climate change.
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2. The Goal of SOLAS
SOLAS (Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study) is a new international research initiative that has
as its goal:
To achieve quantitative understanding of the key biogeo-chemical-physical interactions and feedbacks
between the ocean and atmosphere, and of how this coupled system affects and is affected by climate
and environmental change. The scope of the study is illustrated in Figure 1 and described in detail in
this Science Plan and Implementation Strategy. The Science Plan parts of this document are largely
based on the results of the International SOLAS Open Science Meeting held in Damp, near Kiel,
Germany in February 2000 which involved more than 250 scientists from 22 different countries. The
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
(SCOR), Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (CACGP) and the World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP) have approved SOLAS and are sponsors of it.
Figure 1: The Scope
of SOLAS
Figure 2: Key Processes in
the ocean-atmospheric
system
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Figure 3: SOLAS Structure
Figure 4: Research foci in SOLAS
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3. Integrating objective of SOLAS – Ireland
To advance our understanding of key biological, chemical and physical processes in the surface-ocean
and lower atmosphere and to integrated these key processes into an Integrative Predictive and
Quantification System.
Within Ireland, there is the expertise available in the areas of marine botany, ocean dynamics, air-sea
exchange, atmospheric physics and chemistry, observational and operational forecasting modelling to
develop a state-of-the-art predictive and quantification system, underpinned by advanced key process
understanding in order to advance the goals of SOLAS. The focus of this system will be the North East
Atlantic region around Ireland (see schematic in Figure 5).
Figure 5: Integrated ocean-atmospheric modelling and observing system for North Atlantic Region
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4. List of Attendees of 1st SOLAS Ireland workshop
SOLAS (Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Studies) Workshop
Boardroom, Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway.
Attended:
Peter Liss,
University of East Angia
UK
(International SOLAS Committee Chair)
Frank McGovern
Environmental Protection Agency
Ireland
Colin O’Dowd
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
(ACCENT Aerosols: Air Quality & Climate Joint Research
Programme Coordinator)
Gerry Jennings
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
Aodhogan O’Roddy National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
(Chair Irish Committee on Climate Change)
Saji Verghase
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
Gerrit de Leeuw
TNO,
The Netherlands
(International SOLAS Committee Member)
Ray McGrath
Met Eireann
Ireland
(C4I Project Leader)
Dagmar Stengel
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
Mike Hartnett
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
Emer Colleran
National University of Ireland, Galway
Ireland
(Director ECI)
Glenn Nolan
Marine Institute
Ireland
Gary Crawley
Science Foundation Ireland
Ireland
Jeremy Gault
University College Cork
Ireland
Acronymns
ACCENT
C4I
SOLAS
GEMS
GEO
GEOSS
MAP
ECI
MRI
SFI
RFP
Atmospheric Composition & Change – A European Network of
Excellence
Community Climate Change Consortium for Ireland
Surface Ocean Lower Atmosphere Studies
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security
Global Earth Observing
Global Observing System of Systems
Marine Aerosol Production (from natural sources).
Environmental Change Institute
Martin Ryan (Marine Science) Institure
Science Foundation of Ireland.
Research Frontiers Programme
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5. List of workshop presentations
5th April 2005
Chaired by S. Gerard Jennings
Agenda
Introduction & International Context
10:00-10:15
10:15-10:45
10:45-11:00
11:00-11:10
11:10-11:25
Introduction, Aims & Objectives
SOLAS International and UK SOLAS
Overview of GMES/GEO
Overview of EU-funded Project MAP
GEOSS Product development under SOLAS
11:25-11:45
Coffee
Irish Activities
Ocean impacts on Irish Climate
Marine biota and feedback
& MRI facilities
Environmental Change Institute
Marine modelling
HIPOCAS (FP5)
11:45-12:00
12:00-12:15
12:15-12:30
12:30-12:45
12:45-12:55
Colin O’Dowd
Peter Liss
Frank McGovern
Colin O’Dowd
Gerrit de Leeuw
Ray McGrath
Dagmar Stengel
Emer Colleran
Michael Hartnett
Jeremy Gault
12:45-13:45 Lunch
13:45-13:55
13:55-14:10
SOLAS related facilities in Ireland
Atmospheric observations
Frank McGovern/ Gerry Jennings
Marine observing systems
Glenn Nolan
Development of an Irish Programme
14:10-14:25
14:25-14:45
15:00-16:00
Current and Future strategy for the Research Frontiers Programme
Irish component of SOLAS: The next step
Round table discussion
Gary Crawley
Colin O’Dowd
SFI, EPA, MI, NUIG, ME
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Ocean Impacts on Irish Climate
Ray McGrath & Tido Semmler
C4I Project (Community Climate Change Consortium for Ireland)
Met Éireann
Research Group
The Community Climate Change Consortium for Ireland (C4I) Project was established in 2003. The
project is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (under the National Development Plan), Met
Éireann, Sustainable Energy Ireland and the Higher Education Authority; it is also linked to and
supported by the CosmoGrid project, funded under the Programme for Research in Third Level
Institutions (PRTLI) administered by the Higher Education Authority under the National Development
Plan and with partial support from the European Regional Development Fund. The partners in C4I are
University College Dublin and Met Éireann.
Objectives
The main objective for C4I is to consolidate and intensify the national effort in climate change research
by building a capability for carrying out regional climate modelling in Ireland and providing assistance
to Irish scientists utilizing climate model output for their analyses.
Research Work (see http://www.c4i.ie for details)
The past (1961-2000) and future (2021-2060) climate of Ireland have been simulated by dynamically
downscaling the outputs from global models (GCMs) using a regional climate model.
The sensitivity of the climate to sea surface temperature has been investigated by running a 16-year
simulation, using ERA-40 analysis data with observed SST and with the SST fields increased by a flat
1° C.
In cooperation with NUIG work has begun on porting an aerosol and chemical transport model into the
climate model.
Figure 1 Simulated Atlantic
hurricane using enhanced SST.
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Regional Climate Modelling of Impacts of Marine Aerosols
Saji Varghese & Colin O’Dowd
Department of Physics & Environmental Change Institute
National University of Ireland, Galway.
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
Climate change will induce changes in production of trace gases (eg. DMS) and particles (sea salt)
formed due to air-sea interactions. The alterations in these quantities affect the radiation balance - the
formation of cloud condensation nuclei affects the cloud formation which in turn determines the cloud
cover and albedo. Variations in the fluxes of iron and nitrogen will have an impact on the marine
phytoplankton production and activity. Another important factor that will determine future climate
change would be the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide.
To have a detail understanding of the cause and effect of the various parameters in a climate change
scenario, it is important to carry out climate modeling studies, particularly in a regional sense whereby
the regions of interest can be zoomed to greater detail. Moreover, some of the large scale atmosphericocean phenomena can only be understood and characterized by modelling studies.
Here we use an atmospheric Regional Climate Model (RCA3) which is a development of the High
Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) for our simulations. It is a hydrostatic grid point model
with a rotated grid. The domain extends from North Atlantic ocean to west of Russia and Scandinavian
countries in the north to north of Africa. It has a horizontal resolution of 0.15 degrees , 326 X 256 grid
points in the horizontal and 40 in the vertical.
Figure 1. Sea-spray aerosol concentration using the Geever et al (2005) flux
NUIG is implementing state-of-the-art aerosol-cloud-chemistry modules in RCA. Initial focus is on
marine aerosol impacts, and in particular, sea-spray aerosol. Sea-spray plays an important role in the
marine boundary layer. It acts as cloud condensation nuclei, influences humidity and temperature
profiles, enhances chemical reactions and scatters light. Preliminary experiments were carried out with
sea-spray source functions which were validated against experimental results. Figure1 shows the submicron sea spray concentration after 3 hours of simulation over the N. Atlantic. It also indicates a
strong dependency on wind speed. Concentrations are quite large in regions of high windspeeds.
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Marine Hydrodynamics Modelling
Michael Hartnett
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
Marine Modelling Centre, Martin Ryan Institute
National University of Ireland Galway
The Marine Modelling Centre is located in the Martin Ryan Institute for Marine Science, NUI Galway.
The Centre was founded to consolidate marine modelling research at NUI Galway. Research in the
Centre is concerned with many aspects of ocean and coastal processes, including:
•
•
•
•
Ocean hydrodynamics
Coastal hydrodynamics
Atmospheric forcing
Climate change
•
•
•
Nutrient cycling
Phytoplankton production
Biological processes
Currently the Centre sustains 2 post-docs and 4 PhD students. Three permanent members
of staff are actively engaged in running the centre and supervising this research.
Modelling activities are carried out at various scales, ranging from coastal inlets to the
North East Atlantic Basin. The Centre has its own High Performance Computer and all
major models have been developed to run on this system.
One of our main projects, and of particular relevance to SOLAS, is the development of a
4km-grid model of the North East Atlantic Basin, the western boundary is at
approximately 250W (see figure above). This model is being developed to run on the
High Performance Computer at NUI Galway with internet access. The first stage of this
project is to accurately predict water circulation in the domain; the model will then be
developed to simulate nutrient cycling and primary/secondary production. We are also
currently using the model for detailed climate change analysis in the NE Atlantic. This
model will need an accurate
representation of oceanatmosphere interactions, in
particular,
atmospheric
nutrient deposition fluxes,
solar
radiation,
light
conditions and rainfall.
Thus, the research activities
at the Marine Modelling
Centre are of direct and
significant relevance to
SOLAS. We are keen to
develop
future
models
integrating atmospheric and
marine processes.
Figure 1. Domain of North East Atlantic Model
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Regional Climate Modelling of Impacts of Marine Aerosols
Saji Varghese & Colin O’Dowd
Department of Physics & Environmental Change Institute
National University of Ireland, Galway.
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
Climate change will induce changes in production of trace gases (eg. DMS) and particles (sea salt)
formed due to air-sea interactions. The alterations in these quantities affect the radiation balance - the
formation of cloud condensation nuclei affects the cloud formation which in turn determines the cloud
cover and albedo. Variations in the fluxes of iron and nitrogen will have an impact on the marine
phytoplankton production and activity. Another important factor that will determine future climate
change would be the air-sea flux of carbon dioxide.
To have a detail understanding of the cause and effect of the various parameters in a climate change
scenario, it is important to carry out climate modeling studies, particularly in a regional sense whereby
the regions of interest can be zoomed to greater detail. Moreover, some of the large scale atmosphericocean phenomena can only be understood and characterized by modelling studies.
Here we use an atmospheric Regional Climate Model (RCA3) which is a development of the High
Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) for our simulations. It is a hydrostatic grid point model
with a rotated grid. The domain extends from North Atlantic ocean to west of Russia and Scandinavian
countries in the north to north of Africa. It has a horizontal resolution of 0.15 degrees , 326 X 256 grid
points in the horizontal and 40 in the vertical.
Figure 1. Sea-spray aerosol concentration using the Geever et al (2005) flux
NUIG is implementing state-of-the-art aerosol-cloud-chemistry modules in RCA. Initial focus is on
marine aerosol impacts, and in particular, sea-spray aerosol. Sea-spray plays an important role in the
marine boundary layer. It acts as cloud condensation nuclei, influences humidity and temperature
profiles, enhances chemical reactions and scatters light. Preliminary experiments were carried out with
sea-spray source functions which were validated against experimental results. Figure1 shows the submicron sea spray concentration after 3 hours of simulation over the N. Atlantic. It also indicates a
strong dependency on wind speed. Concentrations are quite large in regions of high windspeeds.
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Marine Biota - algal-atmosphere interactions and feedback on climate
Dagmar Stengel
Department of Botany, Martin Ryan Institute and Environmental Change Institute,
National University of Ireland, Galway
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
SOLAS research focuses on improving the quantitative understanding of the key biogeochemical-physical
interactions and feedback between the ocean and the atmosphere, and their interactions with climate and
environmental change. With marine biogenic (algal) emissions contributing significantly to the natural
production of greenhouse gases and their precursors, marine algal research has a key role to play in
contributing to our understanding of the key processes and fluxes of aerosol emissions.
Both intertidal and subtidal macroalgae (seaweeds), as well as marine microalgae (phytoplankton
and biofilms) in coastal and off-shore environments are known to contribute significantly to the production
of biogenic DMS (DMSP) and halocarbons. In particular, during exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses such
as extreme and fluctuating irradiances, temperatures, nutrients, salinities, grazer and viral attack, biogenic
bursts of aerosols have been observed. The mechanisms involved in their production and the triggers that
stimulate their release into the atmosphere (or the sea) are largely unknown, with some contradictory
observations reported for different algal species. In addition, strong seasonal, diurnal and tidal fluctuations,
clearly related to environmental fluctuations, have been measured. A large gap exists in the understanding
of interactive effects of environmental parameters, which need to be assessed quantitatively under ambient
natural and predicted global change scenarios to provide reliable baseline data for improved climate
modelling. In addition, responses of algae to global change are currently largely undescribed. Isolated effect
of single environmental factors associated with global change (e.g. temperature, CO2, radiation) are poorly
understood, and their combined effects can currently not be predicted. Metabolic and physiological
adaptations that are likely to occur in response to global change, will in turn have feedback effects on the
climate.
Current marine research in the Martin Ryan Institute (MRI) relevant to SOLAS is centred in three
MRI research groups, Aquatic Plant Science (D. Stengel), Marine Modelling (M. Hartnett) and Marine
Microbiology (R. Raine/J. Patching). Researchers in Aquatic Plant Science in particular have expertise in
algal ecology and physiology, and specialise in research related to environment-algal interactions focussing
on the assessment of algal stress due to environmental impacts (stress physiology). Recent research has
concentrated on the monitoring of algal responses to environmental stresses such as irradiance (PAR, UV),
temperature, eutrophication, desiccation, heavy metal contamination and combinations thereof. Parameters
routinely assessed due to their indicative value for primary productivity and environmental stress, include
O2-evolution, chla fluorescence, pigmentation, antioxidant activity, osmo-solutes and phenol contents and
exudation. Future, collaborative research at NUIG in the SOLAS context will include the assessment of
aerosol formation potential of different macro- and microalgal species in specifically designed algal
emission programmes. Research will concentrate on the quantification of emissions from selected macroand microalgae in cultivation and in situ, and evaluate the relative contributions of environmental factors in
the control of algal emissions.
MRI facilities and infrastructure relevant to SOLAS research include essential expertise in algal
physiology, research laboratories for algal manipulation and experimentation, including outstations at
Finavarra (Co. Clare) and MRI Carna (Connemara, Co. Galway), which are ideal to complement
collaborative research at Mace Head. Established links exist between the MRI and the ECI through a wide
range of collaborative and interdisciplinary recent and current research projects.
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Fv/Fm during dehydration
100
A. nodosum
F. serrratus
% of initial Fv/Fm
80
L. digitata
60
40
20
0
0
120
240
360
480
600
720
840
Time (min)
Figure 1. Chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) as an indicator of species-specific responses to environmental
stress.
Figure 2. Experimental exposure of the fucoid Ascophyllum nodosum to different environmental conditions.
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Atmospheric Chemistry Simulation Chamber
John Sodeau, John Wenger
Department of Chemistry & Environmental Research Institute
University College Cork
• in situ FTIR spectroscopy
• NOx and O analysers
• GC, GC-MS
• gas phase degradation
• OH, NO , O , Cl, photolysis
• kinetics and mechanisms
• new particle formation
3
3
3
Aerosol Flow Reactor
•Designed for studies of the interactions of gaseous species with
aerosols
• An aerosol generator is used to produce aerosols of desired composition
e.g.ammonium bisulfate, sulfuric acid
• FTIR spectroscopy is used to determine the extent of
interaction between selected gases and the aerosol
•The aerosol fraction is monitored downstream by a scanning mobility particle sizer
Additional Instrumentation
• High volume PM sampler
• Ion chromatography
• ICP-AES
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Measurements of Primary Marine Aerosol Fluxes at Mace Head.
Michael Geever, Colin O’Dowd and Robert Flanagan.
Department of Experimental Physics, National University of Ireland, Galway,
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
A significant fraction of the marine aerosol population consists of particles produced by sea spray formed
from bursting bubbles in oceanic whitecaps. This primary marine aerosol source contributes to the direct
and indirect radiative forcing due to aerosols. Sea-salt particles thus produced influence the microphysical
and radiative properties of clouds by controlling cloud formation and albedo, and also influence the
atmospheric sulphur cycle by dominating the oxidation of SO2 in the marine boundary layer. To include
this important aerosol source in climate models, accurate estimates and parameterisations of the primary
marine aerosol flux are required. Earlier measurements by Smith et al. (1993), which estimated the
supermicron sea-salt flux and largely ignored the contribution from sub-micron sizes, found a strong
dependence on wind speed. More recent measurements made by Nilsson et al. (2001), which focussed on
the sub-micron size range, also found that the source flux is a strong function of wind speed. The results
presented here include particle sizes > 10nm diameter and show a strong wind speed dependence, which
suggests a wind-driven source of primary marine aerosol at this mid-latitude location.
An instrument package consisting of a sonic anemometer (Gill, Windmaster Pro), a Condensation Particle
Counter (TSI, model 3760) and an Optical Particle Counter/Spectrometer (PMS, ASASP-X) was deployed
at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station (53o 20’ N, 9o 54’ W) in May, 2002. The instruments
were located on top of a 20m tower positioned approximately 50m from the rocky shoreline. The sonic
anemometer and sample inlets were attached to a horizontal boom extending about 1.5m over the westfacing side of the tower platform directed towards the open ocean in order to minimise flow distortion
effects caused by the tower structure. Both the CPC and OPC sampled air from a common 30mm diameter
inlet, which conveyed air in turbulent flow to avoid damping artefacts associated with laminar flow in
sampling tubes. The data records were recorded at 10 Hz from the sonic anemometer and CPC and at 1 Hz
from the OPC.
Analysis of the data using the eddy covariance (EC) technique yielded half-hour means of net vertical
turbulent aerosol fluxes and various other micrometeorological parameters. Deposition velocities over the
measured size range were calculated and the total dry deposition obtained. Adding the measured net
aerosol flux to the calculated dry deposition produced an estimate of the total source flux (F), which was
then correlated with the horizontal macroscopic wind speed (U).
Figure 1. Net flux of sub-micron sea-spray aerosol derived from eddy covariance measurements.
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Mace Head as a SOLAS Research Facility
Gerard Jennings & Colin O’Dowd
Department of Physics & Environmental Change Institute
National University of Ireland, Galway.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
National. University of Ireland, Galway
Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh
GAW site O3, CO, Greenhouse Gases, CFCs, HCFCs.
Aerosol physics, chemistry and fluxes.
Synoptic Weather Station – through Met Eireann
Data Archival: Greenhouse gases and CFC’s WDCGG, Tokyo
Aerosols archived at NILU & JRC and in house
Webcasting and visualisation of real time data
http://macehead.nuigalway.ie
International Process Studies (PARFOROCE, QUEST, MAP, NAMBLEX, ACSOE)
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