This is the Integrated Science Data Analysis Proposal which aims at investigating the export production in the ocean using EOS data. Uncertainties about various carbon reservoirs and fluxes in the oceans lead to difficulties in balancing the contemporary carbon budget at the global scale. Particulate organic carbon is an important component of this budget, and it is essential to increase quantitative understanding of POC dynamics in the oceans and the environmental feedbacks involved in this dynamics. Towards this goal we propose a study based on the use of a 3D physical ocean model combined with surface POC concentrations derived from ocean color satellite data. Concentrations of the POC will be determined in the north polar Atlantic for the period since the beginning of the SeaWiFS mission with a regional ocean color algorithm developed by us. These POC data will serve as an input to a 3D physical ocean model. Our multi-year model simulations of POC dynamics will allow us to derive POC flux out of the photic zone into the deep ocean. In contrast to in situ measurements, which usually provide insufficient data for resolving spatial and temporal scales of variability of POC export, our method based on the combination of satellite, meteorological, oceanographic data, and model simulations is capable of providing export estimates for large regions over relatively long time scales. We will compare our estimates of POC export with similar estimates from available in situ data and ecosystem models. This proposal includes an international collaboration with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen, Norway and Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany. The support for collaborating European institutions comes from their national programs.
