Quantifying the role of the Southern Ocean for anthropogenic CO2 uptake. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and climate change. Climate change is likely to have dramatic economic and environmental consequences for Australia. Knowledge and understanding of the complex carbon cycle is fundamental for predicting future atmospheric CO2 levels and managing climate change. The aim of the work proposed here is to quantify and improve our understan ....Quantifying the role of the Southern Ocean for anthropogenic CO2 uptake. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and climate change. Climate change is likely to have dramatic economic and environmental consequences for Australia. Knowledge and understanding of the complex carbon cycle is fundamental for predicting future atmospheric CO2 levels and managing climate change. The aim of the work proposed here is to quantify and improve our understanding of the oceans role in controlling atmospheric CO2 levels. This will be done by combining modeling and observational expertise among UNSW and CSIRO (Marine Research) researchers. Our work will be the first to assess the extent of which the Southern Ocean (and Australian waters) acts as a carbon sink. This will reduce modeling uncertainties in predicting future atmospheric CO2 levels and will also be valuable to the federal government in future international negotiations on climate change.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560956
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$397,100.00
Summary
World-leading elemental and isotopic microanalysis and chemical speciation facilities for an environmentally sustainable Australia. We propose to establish a world-leading centre for the study of the elemental and isotopic composition of key environmental, archaeological and mineral samples. This will be based upon ultra-short wavelength laser ablation and speciation methods, combined with new advanced ICP-MS technologies developed in Australia. This will give the centre unrivalled capabilities ....World-leading elemental and isotopic microanalysis and chemical speciation facilities for an environmentally sustainable Australia. We propose to establish a world-leading centre for the study of the elemental and isotopic composition of key environmental, archaeological and mineral samples. This will be based upon ultra-short wavelength laser ablation and speciation methods, combined with new advanced ICP-MS technologies developed in Australia. This will give the centre unrivalled capabilities and allow new areas of research to be undertaken in global climate change, the impact of increased salinity and pollution on the sustainability of Australia's inland waterways and coastal environments, and the history of the first humans who inhabited Australia. This will provide a baseline and new quantitative measures to better plan for an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
Changes in the ocean's biological pump: innovative models and diagnostics. This Project aims to quantify how the ocean’s biological pump, which exports newly formed organic matter into the ocean interior, responds to environmental change. The biological pump is a key control on the global carbon and oxygen cycles, and hence on the viability of marine life. New, efficient numerical models will be developed and analysed with highly innovative mathematical methods. Expected outcomes are optimised .... Changes in the ocean's biological pump: innovative models and diagnostics. This Project aims to quantify how the ocean’s biological pump, which exports newly formed organic matter into the ocean interior, responds to environmental change. The biological pump is a key control on the global carbon and oxygen cycles, and hence on the viability of marine life. New, efficient numerical models will be developed and analysed with highly innovative mathematical methods. Expected outcomes are optimised predictive models and a new understanding of the possible future evolutions of the ocean carbon cycle, acidification, and oxygenation. This should provide significant benefits such as predictions of future ocean health, identification of processes that are sensitive to change, and strategies for marine resource management.Read moreRead less
Global ocean productivity: revealing interaction patterns and nutrient pathways. This project will reveal how the nutrient supply of a given region of the ocean can strongly influence biological productivity at great distances because of long-range oceanic nutrient transport. This has important implications for global-scale resource management, such as the artificial fertilisation of the ocean for climate-change mitigation.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100146
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$320,000.00
Summary
The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler . The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler:
The marine productivity buoy is an innovative multi-parametric moored underwater profiler that would provide key information on phytoplankton primary productivity (PP), phytoplankton blooms, and water quality in coastal waters around Australia. The aim is to better understand changes in phytoplankton PP and abundance by synergistically using observations ....The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler . The marine productivity buoy: a multi-parametric underwater profiler:
The marine productivity buoy is an innovative multi-parametric moored underwater profiler that would provide key information on phytoplankton primary productivity (PP), phytoplankton blooms, and water quality in coastal waters around Australia. The aim is to better understand changes in phytoplankton PP and abundance by synergistically using observations from the new facility made several times a day from the surface to the seafloor, and spatially extended surface observations from Earth-orbiting ocean colour satellites. Anticipated outcomes are more accurate phytoplankton PP estimates and water quality parameters in Australian coastal waters in support to research and to monitoring of these critical environments.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200100008
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000,000.00
Summary
The Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science. The Centre will revolutionise predictions of the future of East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Changes in the Antarctic will be profoundly costly to Australia, including sea-level and fisheries impacts; but the speed and scale of future change remains poorly understood. A new national-scale and interdisciplinary Centre is required to understand the complex interactions of the ocean, ice sheets, atmosphere and ecosystems that will gov ....The Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science. The Centre will revolutionise predictions of the future of East Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Changes in the Antarctic will be profoundly costly to Australia, including sea-level and fisheries impacts; but the speed and scale of future change remains poorly understood. A new national-scale and interdisciplinary Centre is required to understand the complex interactions of the ocean, ice sheets, atmosphere and ecosystems that will govern Antarctica’s future. The Centre will combine new field data with innovative models to address Australia’s Antarctic science priorities, train graduate students, develop leaders, engage the public, and enable major economic benefit as Australia adapts to climate change in the coming years and beyond.Read moreRead less