The O2/N2 ratio and CO2 airborne Southern Ocean study

The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in the global climate system by mediating atmosphere-ocean partitioning of heat and carbon dioxide. However, Earth system models are demonstrably deficient in the Southern Ocean, leading to large uncertainties in future air-sea CO2 flux projections under climate warming and incomplete interpretations of natural variability on interannual to geologic time scales. Here, we describe a recent aircraft observational campaign, the O-2/N-2 Ratio and CO2 Airborne Southern Ocean (ORCAS) study, which collected measurements over the Southern Ocean during January and February 2016. The primary research objective of the ORCAS campaign was to improve observational constraints on the seasonal exchange of atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen with the Southern Ocean. The campaign also included measurements of anthropogenic and marine biogenic reactive gases; high-resolution, hyperspectral ocean color imaging of the ocean surface; and microphysical data relevant for understanding and modeling cloud processes. In each of these components of the ORCAS project, the campaign has significantly expanded the amount of observational data available for this remote region. Ongoing research based on these observations will contribute to advancing our understanding of this climatically important system across a range of topics including carbon cycling, atmospheric chemistry and transport, and cloud physics. This article presents an overview of the scientific and methodological aspects of the ORCAS project and highlights early findings.

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Author Stephens, Britton
Long, Matthew
Keeling, R. F.
Kort, E. A.
Sweeney, C.
Apel, Eric C.
Atlas, E. L.
Beaton, Stuart
Bent, J. D.
Blake, N. J.
Bresch, James
Casey, J.
Daube, B. C.
Diao, M.
Diaz, E.
Dierssen, H.
Donets, V.
Gao, B.
Gierach, M.
Green, R.
Haag, J.
Hayman, Matthew
Hills, Alan J.
Hoecker-Martínez, M. S.
Honomichl, Shawn B.
Hornbrook, Rebecca
Jensen, Jørgen B.
Li, R.
McCubbin, I.
McKain, K.
Morgan, E. J.
Nolte, S.
Powers, Jordan G.
Rainwater, B.
Randolph, K.
Reeves, John Michael
Schauffler, S. M.
Smith, K.
Smith, M.
Stith, Jeffrey Len
Stossmeister, Gregory J.
Toohey, D. W.
Watt, Andrew S.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2018-02-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2025-07-11T19:41:40.280357
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:21504
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Stephens, Britton, Long, Matthew, Keeling, R. F., Kort, E. A., Sweeney, C., Apel, Eric C., Atlas, E. L., Beaton, Stuart, Bent, J. D., Blake, N. J., Bresch, James, Casey, J., Daube, B. C., Diao, M., Diaz, E., Dierssen, H., Donets, V., Gao, B., Gierach, M., Green, R., Haag, J., Hayman, Matthew, Hills, Alan J., Hoecker-Martínez, M. S., Honomichl, Shawn B., Hornbrook, Rebecca, Jensen, Jørgen B., Li, R., McCubbin, I., McKain, K., Morgan, E. J., Nolte, S., Powers, Jordan G., Rainwater, B., Randolph, K., Reeves, John Michael, Schauffler, S. M., Smith, K., Smith, M., Stith, Jeffrey Len, Stossmeister, Gregory J., Toohey, D. W., Watt, Andrew S.. (2018). The O2/N2 ratio and CO2 airborne Southern Ocean study. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d72z1877. Accessed 31 July 2025.

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