Working Group on Surface FluxesIn situ issues

Elizabeth Kent National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

WGSF: in situ issues OceanObs'09 Community White Paper

Fairall, C. & Co-Authors (2010). "Observations to Quantify Air-Sea Fluxes and Their Role in Climate Variability and Predictability" in Proceedings of OceanObs’09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society (Vol. 2), Venice, Italy, 21-25 September 2009, Hall, J., Harrison D.E. & Stammer, D., Eds., ESA Publication WPP-306.

http://www.oceanobs09.net/blog/?p=73

Plenary Paper

Surface Energy, CO2 Fluxes And Sea Ice - led by Gulev and Josey

https://abstracts.congrex.com/scripts/jmevent/abstracts/FCXNL-09A02b-1869230-1-gulev_etal_OceanObs09_revision_final.pdf

WGSF: in situ issues

OceanSITES should be expanded

Maintain existing network measuring radiative fluxes, mean meteorology and precipitation

Priorities for expansion: subpolar, high latitudes (high variability) and regions with severe weather conditions

Improved technology required to measure direct fluxes, including gases and particles

More high quality routine flux measurements

Requires more co-ordination of activities

• Mainly Research Vessels but also selected commercial ships

Some vessels making similar measurements to OceanSITES

Others with direct fluxes, currents, directional wave spectra and other sea state information

Focused on high variability regions and gaps in OceanSITES network

WGSF: in situ issues

Voluntary Observing Ships should be maintained and enhanced as a flux observation network

Focus on good quality observations, well characterised with metadata

Need for all elements, including visual clouds, weather and sea state

Improved technology

Increased power and bandwidth for moorings

More robust and capable platforms

Improved & low power gas flux sensors (inc. CO2, O3, SO2 and DMS)

Accurate, low cost, precipitation sensors

Improved humidity sensors for long term deployments

WGSF: in situ issues

Flux observing best practice

WGSF "Flux handbook" ftp://ftp.etl.noaa.gov/user/cfairall/wcrp_wgsf/flux_handbook/

Standards for sensor choice, siting, calibration and metadata

Improvement of flux parameterisations

Continual process

Observations needed under all conditions

Wide variety of related information required

Better models of ocean near surface temperature change with depth

WGSF: in situ issues

A range of independent, gridded flux datasets is needed

Range of input data sources

Improved construction techniques required, with uncertainties

Wider range of fluxes and related variables (inc. e.g. biogeochemical, particles, whitecap fraction)

Clearly documented, metadata to allow appropriate choice of product for application

Data stewardship

Benefits of aggregation of high quality flux data

Ease of access should be improved

Again, more metadata on dataset characteristics and suitable applications.

WGSF: other issues

Satellite data priorities:

Improved precipitation

Improved near surface air temperature and humidity

Whitecap characteristics

Improved sampling for vector winds (inc high wind and rain)

Improved temporal coverage and higher spatial resolution for passive and active microwave sensors, esp. in coastal regions

Improved validation and parameterisation for NWP and reanalyis model fluxes

Collaboration of observationalists, dataset developers and modellers

High quality flux datasets needed

Facilitated by SURFA, set up by WGSF and WGNE

• http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/rsad/air-sea/surfa.html