Arctic PRIZE will address the core objective of the Changing Arctic Ocean Program by seeking to understand and predict how change in sea ice and ocean properties will affect the large-scale ecosystem structure of the Arctic Ocean. We will investigate the seasonally and spatially varying relationship between sea ice, water column structure, light, nutrients and productivity and the roles they play in structuring energy transfer to pelagic zooplankton and benthic megafauna. We focus on the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) of the Barents Sea - a highly productive region that is undergoing considerable change in its sea ice distribution - and target the critically important but under-sampled seasonal transition from winter into the post-bloom summer period. Of critical importance is the need to develop the predictive tools necessary to assess how the Arctic ecosystems will respond to a reducing sea ice cover. This will be achieved through a combined experimental/modelling programme. The project is embedded within international Arctic networks based in Norway and Canada and coordinated with ongoing US projects in the Pacific Arctic. Through these international research networks our proposal will have a legacy of cooperation far beyond the lifetime of the funding. The project comprises five integrated work packages. WP1 Physical Parameters: We will measure properties of the water column (temperature, salinity, turbulent fluxes, light, fluorometry) in both open water and under sea ice by deploying animal-borne tags on seals which preferentially inhabit the marginal ice zone (MIZ). We will use ocean gliders to patrol the water around the MIZ and track it as the ice retreats northwards in summer. Measurements of underwater light fields will support development of improved regional remote sensing algorithms to extend the spatial and temporal context of the proposal beyond the immediate deployment period. WP2 Nutrient Dynamics: We will undertake an extensive program of measuring inorganic and organic nutrients, their concentrations, isotopic signatures and vertical fluxes to understand the role of vertical mixing and advection (WP1) in regulating nutrient supply to PP in the surface ocean. WP3 Phytoplankton Production: We will investigate nutrient supply (WP2) and light availability (WP1) linked to sea ice affect the magnitude, timing, and composition of phytoplankton production, and the role of seasonal physiological plasticity. Through new numerical parameterisations - cross-tuned and validated using a rich array of observations - we will develop predictive skill related to biological production and its fate; resolve longstanding questions about the competing effects of increased light and wind mixing associated with sea ice loss; and therefore contribute to the international effort to project the functioning of Pan-Arctic ecosystems. WP4 Zooplankton Behaviour: Zooplankton undergo vertical migrations to graze on PP at the surface. We will use acoustic instruments on moorings and AUVs, with nets and video profiles to measure the composition and behaviours of pelagic organisms in relation in light and mixing (WP1) and phytoplankton production (WP3) over the seasonal cycle of sea ice cover. The behaviours identified will be used to improve models that capture the life-history and behavioural traits of Arctic zooplankton. These models can then be used to investigate how feeding strategies of key Arctic zooplankton species may be modified during an era of reducing sea ice cover. WP5 Benthic Community: We will use an AUV equipped with camera system to acquire imagery of the large seabed-dwelling organisms to investigate how changes in sea ice duration (WP1), timing of PP (WP3) and bentho-pelagic coupling (WP4) can modify the spatial variation in benthic community composition. We will also conduct time series-studies in an Arctic fjord using a photolander system to record the seasonally varying community response to pulses of organic matter.

This project will aid the commercialisation of recent inventions of oceanographic / environmental sensor technology developed in collaboration by the National Oceanography Centre Southampton and the University of Southampton. They have developed novel miniaturised high performance sensors that measure the conductivity, temperature and oxygen content of water. The measurement of these parameters is essential in a wide range of environmental studies in both fresh and salt (sea) water. The small size and high performance of these new sensors suggests that they could be developed into a product with potential benefits to both science and industry. Prior to this project the inventors have commissioned a market survey and this has highlighted sizeable markets in a number of sectors. Crucially the potential customers include non scientists in sectors where potential sales volumes are large. This project seeks to investigate these commercial opportunities further and complete adaptation and testing of the technology to allow it to be demonstrated to key user groups and companies. The project will also explore business models, partnerships, patenting, and routes to manufacture.

The balance between the production of organic carbon during phytoplankton photosynthesis and its consumption by bacterial, zooplankton and phytoplankton respiration determines how much carbon can be stored in the ocean and how much remains in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. The amount of organic carbon stored in the ocean is as large as the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and so is a key component in two global carbon cycle calculations needed to avoid a global temperature rise of more than 1.5 degrees C: the calculation of the technological and societal efforts required to achieve net zero carbon emissions and the calculation of the efficiency of ocean-based engineering approaches to directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Yet, despite its vital role, our ability to predict how ocean carbon storage will change in the future is severely limited by our lack of understanding of how plankton respiration varies in time and space, how it is apportioned between bacteria and zooplankton and how sensitive it is to climate change-induced shifts in environmental conditions such as increasing temperature and decreasing oxygen. This woeful situation is due to the significant challenge of measuring respiration in the deep-sea and the uncoordinated way in which these respiration data are archived. This project will directly address these two problems. We will take advantage of our leadership and participation in an international programme which deploys thousands of oceanic floats measuring temperature, oxygen and organic carbon in the global ocean, in an international team of experts focused on quantifying deep-sea microbial respiration, and our experience of collating international datasets, to produce an unprecedented dataset of bacterial and zooplankton respiration. We will derive estimates of respiration based on data from floats, so that together with estimates derived from recently developed methods including underwater gliders, the new database will include respiration measurements calculated over a range of time and space scales. Crucially, respiration rates will be coupled with concurrent environmental data such as temperature, oxygen and organic carbon. This dataset will enable us to quantify the seasonal and spatial variability of respiration and derive equations describing how respiration changes with the proportion of bacteria and zooplankton present and with the chemical and physical properties of the water. These equations can then be used in climate models to better predict how respiration and therefore ocean carbon storage will change in the future with climate-change induced shifts in temperature, oxygen, organic carbon and plankton community. We will take part in a hybrid hands-on and online international training course on observations and models of deep-water respiration targeted to early career researchers from developing and developed countries to showcase the useability of the respiration database and the global array of oceanic floats. We will also prepare Science Festival exhibits on observing life in the deep ocean for schoolchildren. The deliverables of the project - a unique global open-access database of respiration measurements, new equations describing the sensitivity of respiration to changing temperature and oxygen suitable for climate models and online training materials for early career researchers - are of benefit to scientists who aim to predict how a changing climate will affect the storage of carbon in the ocean, educators who train the next generation of ocean scientists and practitioners, policy makers who need to quantify nationally determined contributions to actions limiting global warming, and scientists, engineers, lawyers, governing bodies and commercial companies designing, evaluating and implementing ocean-based carbon dioxide removal technologies.

It is widely accepted that the activities of mankind are leading to changes in global climate; however, the extent of those changes is far from certain due to the complexity of the climate system and the number of interacting processes involved. A central process in all climate studies is the interaction of radiation / incoming solar (shortwave) radiation, and outgoing infra-red (longwave) radiation / with the atmosphere and in particular with clouds. Clouds present a large source of variability, and uncertainty, in the radiative balance due both to the variation in extent, location, and type of cloud, and to the strong variation in properties such as reflectivity with changes in the concentration and size distribution of cloud droplets or ice crystals. Marine stratocumulus clouds / extensive sheets of low level clouds / play a major role in the global radiation balance. The size and number of their cloud droplets depends strongly on the number of aerosol particles available for droplets to form on. Sea-salt aerosol are a major source of such condensation nuclei. The generation of sea salt aerosol occurs through evaporation of water droplets generated by bubble bursting and spray torn from wave tops by the wind. The size and number of droplets produced, and hence of the aerosol produced, varies greatly with conditions: wind speed, wave state, the presence of surface films produced by plankton, etc. In order to accurately represent marine clouds, and so get the radiation balance correct in climate models, we must first determine how much aerosol and of what size, is generated under any given conditions. There is considerable uncertainty in this, particularly for the smallest aerosol, which are most relevant to climate processes. This project will measure the amount of aerosol at different sizes generated near the surface and transported upwards into the atmosphere, along with the wind speed, wave size, white-capping, and heat and moisture transfers under a wide range of different conditions. Measurements of aerosol very close to the sea surface will enable aerosol generation events to be related directly to individual breaking waves. The results will be used to improve our understanding of aerosol generation, and ultimately the fidelity of cloud representation within climate models. Another major uncertainty in modelling the future climate is the rate at which CO2 is transferred between the atmosphere and the oceans. CO2 absorbs infra-red radiation; an increase in CO2 in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels means more infra-red radiation is absorbed, causing a warming of the atmosphere. The observed increase in CO2 in the atmosphere is less than might be expected given the amount of fuel burnt. This is due in large part to the absorption of CO2 by the oceans. Although CO2 is absorbed by the oceans as a whole, on regional scales the transfer of CO2 between the atmosphere and ocean can occur in either direction, depending upon the local concentrations of the gas in the air and water. The rate of the transfer depends also on the wind speed, bubble formation, sea-state, and surface films. As with aerosol production, there are large uncertainties in how the rate of transfer varies with conditions / by a factor of two or more under some conditions. Direct measurements of the transfer of CO2 between the atmosphere and ocean, along with those of the meteorological and ocean conditions, will be used to reduce the uncertainty in the parameterization of CO2 transfer. This will in turn allow improvements to long term climate models.

This proposal is aimed at enhancing the international reputation of the NERC Autosub autonomous underwater vehicle programme and building on its science achievements. It will sustain an international presence, and provide a bridge between the Autosub Under Ice directed programme and future opportunities such as International Polar Year. There are four deliverables within this proposal: 1) A Masterclass and a separate Science Workshop that will reinforce the UK position as a world leader in environmental science and technology using autonomous underwater vehicles. 2) Twelve competitive placements, arranged in conjunction with the British Council, to enable young UK and overseas scientists and engineers to develop lasting collaborative links. 3) Sponsorship of sessions and poster receptions at major international conferences (American Geophysical Union, European Geophysical Union) and at workshops co-organised with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and International Polar Year. 4) Outreach to young people and their educators worldwide through a web-conference arranged through the College for Exploration.