G. Spezie, G.M.R. Manzella
VIII
Ross Sea which develop by dynamic coupling between the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current and the Ross Sea Gyre as well as by fluid exchange between offshore larger-scale circulation and local ones. Research on the horizontal and vertical particle flux has increased our knowledge of the intensity of the horizontal and vertical transport of biogenic éléments from suspended particulate matter. The data
will surely prove very valuable also in the design and implémentation of ecological models.
The International Conférence on the Oceanography of the Ross Sea held in
Lerici, Italy, in March 1997 has constituted the First occasion on which data, model
results, and ideas sprung from the activities carried out in the framework of the
CLIMA project were presented and discussed in an organic manner. The State of
the knowledge achieved within the project is demonstrated by the contributions
in this volume, along with the extent of the collaborations which flourished
between the project itself, or individual activities conducted in its framework, and
major international scientific initiatives. Just to mention a few examples, repeated
expendable bathythermograph (XBT) deployments along the World Océan
Circulation Experiment (WOCE) P14 transect between New Zealand and
Antarctica hâve been carried out in the framework of the WOCE; the CLIMA project is also an official contributor to WOCE activities, with the surface drifter data
gathered in the Pacific sector of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and these
data are available to the scientific community through the WOCE-TOGA Global
Drifter Data Center located in and hosted by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Miami; they also constitute part of the
Italian contribution to the WCRP International Programme for Antarctic Buoys
(IPAB). Particular attention, in this respect, has been devoted to making data collected within CLIMA activities available to the community at large, again through
bilateral collaborations or international data centers.
As mentioned above, this has been the first opportunity to summarise the
achieved results, and the stage of the synthesis has not been reached yet, Le., the
point when scientists from the different disciplines can consider the entire set of
data and plan its use for the implémentation of prédictive models of polynya formation, interannual variability of the circulation, and links between physics,
chemistry and biology within the Ross Sea ecosystem.
It is also necessary to underline a very crucial point which clearly results from
the data analysis: the Ross Sea appears to be a quite complex System, whose continuons and exhaustive monitoring is not feasible, obviously. In the best case, we
can expect to be able to carry out measurement campaigns for 2 or maybe 3
months a year. We therefore hâve to optimise men and equipment resources in
order to take advantage of the short “fair weather” (so to speak) time we hâve for
our observations. At the same time, we also need to make the best out of the long
months we cannot be in the field. Remotely sensed data collection will fïll the gap
between campaigns, and therefore we will hâve to give impulse to the connected
analysis and research. Also, we need to keep developing strong numerical modelling activities, at différent levels of complexity, with the final goal of covering as
much of the complexity of the Ross Sea System as possible.
It has clearly been shown that the Ross Sea can be a good reference site to monitor possible climatic trends.looking at the variability of water mass formation as
VIII
Ross Sea which develop by dynamic coupling between the Antarctic Circumpolar
Current and the Ross Sea Gyre as well as by fluid exchange between offshore larger-scale circulation and local ones. Research on the horizontal and vertical particle flux has increased our knowledge of the intensity of the horizontal and vertical transport of biogenic éléments from suspended particulate matter. The data
will surely prove very valuable also in the design and implémentation of ecological models.
The International Conférence on the Oceanography of the Ross Sea held in
Lerici, Italy, in March 1997 has constituted the First occasion on which data, model
results, and ideas sprung from the activities carried out in the framework of the
CLIMA project were presented and discussed in an organic manner. The State of
the knowledge achieved within the project is demonstrated by the contributions
in this volume, along with the extent of the collaborations which flourished
between the project itself, or individual activities conducted in its framework, and
major international scientific initiatives. Just to mention a few examples, repeated
expendable bathythermograph (XBT) deployments along the World Océan
Circulation Experiment (WOCE) P14 transect between New Zealand and
Antarctica hâve been carried out in the framework of the WOCE; the CLIMA project is also an official contributor to WOCE activities, with the surface drifter data
gathered in the Pacific sector of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and these
data are available to the scientific community through the WOCE-TOGA Global
Drifter Data Center located in and hosted by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Miami; they also constitute part of the
Italian contribution to the WCRP International Programme for Antarctic Buoys
(IPAB). Particular attention, in this respect, has been devoted to making data collected within CLIMA activities available to the community at large, again through
bilateral collaborations or international data centers.
As mentioned above, this has been the first opportunity to summarise the
achieved results, and the stage of the synthesis has not been reached yet, Le., the
point when scientists from the different disciplines can consider the entire set of
data and plan its use for the implémentation of prédictive models of polynya formation, interannual variability of the circulation, and links between physics,
chemistry and biology within the Ross Sea ecosystem.
It is also necessary to underline a very crucial point which clearly results from
the data analysis: the Ross Sea appears to be a quite complex System, whose continuons and exhaustive monitoring is not feasible, obviously. In the best case, we
can expect to be able to carry out measurement campaigns for 2 or maybe 3
months a year. We therefore hâve to optimise men and equipment resources in
order to take advantage of the short “fair weather” (so to speak) time we hâve for
our observations. At the same time, we also need to make the best out of the long
months we cannot be in the field. Remotely sensed data collection will fïll the gap
between campaigns, and therefore we will hâve to give impulse to the connected
analysis and research. Also, we need to keep developing strong numerical modelling activities, at différent levels of complexity, with the final goal of covering as
much of the complexity of the Ross Sea System as possible.
It has clearly been shown that the Ross Sea can be a good reference site to monitor possible climatic trends.looking at the variability of water mass formation as