Abstract Profiles of oxygen measurements from Argo profiling floats now vastly outnumber shipboard profiles. To correct for drift, float oxygen data are often initially adjusted to deployment casts, ship‐based climatologies, or, recently, measurements of atmospheric oxygen for in situ calibration. Air calibration enables accurate measurements in the upper ocean but may not provide similar accuracy at depth. Using a quality controlled shipboard data set, we find that the entire Argo oxygen data set is offset relative to shipboard measurements (float minus ship) at pressures of 1,450–2,000 db by a median of −1.9 μmol kg−1(mean ± SD of −1.9 ± 3.9, 95% confidence interval around the mean of {−2.2, −1.6}) and air‐calibrated floats are offset by −2.7 μmol kg−1(−3.0 ± 3.4 (CI95%{−3.7, −2.4}). The difference between float and shipboard oxygen is likely due to offsets in the float oxygen data and not oxygen changes at depth or biases in the shipboard data set. In addition to complicating the calculation of long‐term ocean oxygen changes, these float oxygen offsets impact the adjustment of float nitrate and pH measurements, therefore biasing important derived quantities such as the partial pressure of CO2(pCO2) and dissolved inorganic carbon. Correcting floats with air‐calibrated oxygen sensors for the float‐ship oxygen offsets alters float pH by a median of 3.0 mpH (3.1 ± 3.7) and float‐derived surfacepCO2by −3.2 μatm (−3.2 ± 3.9). This adjustment to floatpCO2represents half, or more, of the bias in float‐derivedpCO2reported in studies comparing floatpCO2to shipboardpCO2measurements.
more »
« less
Mapping Dissolved Oxygen Concentrations by Combining Shipboard and Argo Observations Using Machine Learning Algorithms
Abstract The ocean oxygen (O2) inventory has declined in recent decades but the estimates of O2trend are uncertain due to its sparse and irregular sampling. A refined estimate of deoxygenation rate is developed using machine learning techniques and biogeochemical Argo array. The source data includes historical shipboard (bottle and CTD‐O2) profiles from 1965 to 2020 and biogeochemical Argo profiles after 2005. Neural network and random forest algorithms were trained using approximately 80% of this data and the remaining 20% for validation. The training data is further divided into 5‐fold decadal groups to perform cross validation and hyperparameter tuning. Through different combinations of algorithm types and predictor variable sets, an ensemble of gridded monthly O2data sets was generated with similar skills (root‐mean‐square error ∼13–18 μmol/kg and R2 ∼ 0.9). The largest errors are found in the oxycline and frontal regions with strong lateral and vertical gradients. The mapping was repeated with shipboard data only and with both shipboard and Argo data. The effect of including Argo data on the estimated global deoxygenation trends has a major impact with an 56% increase while reducing the uncertainty by 40% as measured by the ensemble spread. This study demonstrates the importance of new biogeochemical Argo arrays in relatively data‐poor regions such as the Southern Ocean.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2123546
- PAR ID:
- 10626495
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Geophysical Research Machine Learning and Computation
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Machine Learning and Computation
- Volume:
- 1
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2993-5210
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Ocean deoxygenation due to anthropogenic warming represents a major threat to marine ecosystems and fisheries. Challenges remain in simulating the modern observed changes in the dissolved oxygen (O2). Here, we present an analysis of upper ocean (0-700m) deoxygenation in recent decades from a suite of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) ocean biogeochemical simulations. The physics and biogeochemical simulations include both ocean-only (the Ocean Model Intercomparison Project Phase 1 and 2, OMIP1 and OMIP2) and coupled Earth system (CMIP6 Historical) configurations. We examine simulated changes in the O2inventory and ocean heat content (OHC) over the past 5 decades across models. The models simulate spatially divergent evolution of O2trends over the past 5 decades. The trend (multi-model mean and spread) for upper ocean global O2inventory for each of the MIP simulations over the past 5 decades is 0.03 ± 0.39×1014 [mol/decade] for OMIP1, −0.37 ± 0.15×1014[mol/decade] for OMIP2, and −1.06 ± 0.68×1014[mol/decade] for CMIP6 Historical, respectively. The trend in the upper ocean global O2inventory for the latest observations based on the World Ocean Database 2018 is −0.98×1014[mol/decade], in line with the CMIP6 Historical multi-model mean, though this recent observations-based trend estimate is weaker than previously reported trends. A comparison across ocean-only simulations from OMIP1 and OMIP2 suggests that differences in atmospheric forcing such as surface wind explain the simulated divergence across configurations in O2inventory changes. Additionally, a comparison of coupled model simulations from the CMIP6 Historical configuration indicates that differences in background mean states due to differences in spin-up duration and equilibrium states result in substantial differences in the climate change response of O2. Finally, we discuss gaps and uncertainties in both ocean biogeochemical simulations and observations and explore possible future coordinated ocean biogeochemistry simulations to fill in gaps and unravel the mechanisms controlling the O2changes.more » « less
-
Abstract This study characterized ocean biological carbon pump metrics in the second iteration of the REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP2) project. The analysis here focused on comparisons of global and biome‐scale regional patterns in particulate organic carbon (POC) production and sinking flux from the RECCAP2 ocean biogeochemical model ensemble against observational products derived from satellite remote sensing, sediment traps, and geochemical methods. There was generally good model‐data agreement in mean large‐scale spatial patterns, but with substantial spread across the model ensemble and observational products. The global‐integrated, model ensemble‐mean export production, taken as the sinking POC flux at 100 m (6.08 ± 1.17 Pg C yr−1), and export ratio defined as sinking flux divided by net primary production (0.154 ± 0.026) both fell at the lower end of observational estimates. Comparison with observational constraints also suggested that the model ensemble may have underestimated regional biological CO2drawdown and air‐sea CO2flux in high productivity regions. Reasonable model‐data agreement was found for global‐integrated, ensemble‐mean sinking POC flux into the deep ocean at 1,000 m (0.65 ± 0.24 Pg C yr−1) and the transfer efficiency defined as flux at 1,000 m divided by flux at 100 m (0.122 ± 0.041), with both variables exhibiting considerable regional variability. The RECCAP2 analysis presents standard ocean biological carbon pump metrics for assessing biogeochemical model skill, metrics that are crucial for further modeling efforts to resolve remaining uncertainties involving system‐level interactions between ocean physics and biogeochemistry.more » « less
-
Abstract Satellite‐based sensors of ocean color have become the primary tool to infer changes in surface chlorophyll, while BGC‐Argo floats are now filling the information gap at depth. Here we use BGC‐Argo data to assess depth‐resolved information on chlorophyll‐a derived from an ocean biogeochemical model constrained by the assimilation of surface ocean color remote sensing. The data‐assimilating model replicates well the general seasonality and meridional gradients in surface and depth‐resolved chlorophyll‐a inferred from the float array in the Southern Ocean. On average, the model tends to overestimate float‐based chlorophyll, particularly at times and locations of high productivity such as the beginning of the spring bloom, subtropical deep chlorophyll maxima, and non‐iron limited regions of the Southern Ocean. The highest model RMSE in the upper 50 m with respect to the float array is of 0.6 mg Chl m−3, which should allow the detection of seasonal changes in float‐based biomass (varying between 0.01 and >1 mg Chl m−3) but might hinder the identification of subtle changes in chlorophyll at narrow local scales. Both model and float profiling data show good agreement with in situ data from station ALOHA, with model estimates showing a slight accuracy edge in inferring depth‐resolved observations. Uncertainties in float bio‐optical estimates impede their use as a reliable benchmark for validation, but the general qualitative agreement between model and float data provides confidence in the ability of model to replicate biogeochemical features below the surface, where data is not directly constrained by the assimilation of satellite ocean color.more » « less
-
Abstract The coastal ocean contributes to regulating atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations by taking up carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). In this second phase of the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP2), we quantify global coastal ocean fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4using an ensemble of global gap‐filled observation‐based products and ocean biogeochemical models. The global coastal ocean is a net sink of CO2in both observational products and models, but the magnitude of the median net global coastal uptake is ∼60% larger in models (−0.72 vs. −0.44 PgC year−1, 1998–2018, coastal ocean extending to 300 km offshore or 1,000 m isobath with area of 77 million km2). We attribute most of this model‐product difference to the seasonality in sea surface CO2partial pressure at mid‐ and high‐latitudes, where models simulate stronger winter CO2uptake. The coastal ocean CO2sink has increased in the past decades but the available time‐resolving observation‐based products and models show large discrepancies in the magnitude of this increase. The global coastal ocean is a major source of N2O (+0.70 PgCO2‐e year−1in observational product and +0.54 PgCO2‐e year−1in model median) and CH4(+0.21 PgCO2‐e year−1in observational product), which offsets a substantial proportion of the coastal CO2uptake in the net radiative balance (30%–60% in CO2‐equivalents), highlighting the importance of considering the three greenhouse gases when examining the influence of the coastal ocean on climate.more » « less
An official website of the United States government

