Are sea ice and surface foam important in determining oceanic uptake of CO2?

Scientific background

The global oceans take up about a third of the carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit, and about half of this uptake occurs within the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. This dampens global heating so understanding air-sea CO2 exchange in the Southern Ocean is essential for predicting future climate.

While air-sea CO2 exchange through an unbroken water surface is reasonably well understood, how sea ice and whitecaps (formed via bubbles from wave breaking) affect CO2 exchange are very poorly known. Because the Southern Ocean is substantially covered by sea ice and/or whitecaps, our poor understanding of these processes limits the accuracy of current and future CO2 flux estimates.

Research goals

In this project, the student will make and bring together shipboard measurements over multiple years and satellite observations to better understand the relationships between gas exchange, sea ice, and whitecaps. From the UK ice breaker RRS Sir David Attenborough primarily in the Southern Ocean, they will 1) directly measure air-sea CO2 exchange using a state-of-the-art flux system, and 2) develop/improve image analysis algorithms to automate the determination of sea ice coverage and whitecaps from shipboard visible/infrared photographs.

They will then combine satellite observations with the outcomes of 1) and 2) to determine the importance of sea ice and whitecaps in determining CO2 uptake by the Southern Ocean.