Workshop on Modelling and Observing the Impacts of Dust Transport/Deposition on Marine Productivity

  Available online: http://library.wmo.int/pmb_ged/gaw_202.pdf

In this report we evaluate the state-of-art knowledge and uncertainties regarding the deposition of dust on the ocean and its mineralogical composition provided by models and measurement datasets. Global climate models were recently intercompared by Huneeus et al. (2011) using results from the AEROCOM model intercomparison. The deposition calculations from these global models are frequently used as input for biological productivity calculations. A model measurement comparison (Huneeus, 2011) shows that global models do reproduce the observed data over several orders of magnitude. However, the agreement with individual measurements is within a factor of three at best. To estimate the flux of mineral nutrients to the ocean, the mineralogical composition of dust deposited at the surface ocean must be known. Very few studies have been performed to assess mineralogical composition of dust over the ocean, and thus the associated uncertainties in the mineralogy are even larger than for dust alone.

Collection(s) and Series:  GAW Report- No. 202

Language(s): English (eng)

 Tags: Oceans ; Ocean model ; Modelling ; Marine environment ; Ocean-atmosphere interaction ; Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (GAW) ; GAW 202