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Subject: Meeting report from the "Initial Atlantic Ocean Carbon Synthesis Meeting"

The EU Integrated Project CARBOOCEAN – Marine Carbon Sources and Sinks Assessment, and the International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project have published the meeting report from the “Initial Atlantic Ocean Carbon Synthesis Meeting”, held in Iceland this past June.  This meeting brought together 23 participants from 9 countries with expertise ranging from ship-based hydrography and carbon measurements, physical oceanography, surface pCO2 variability, CFC and tracer measurements, O2 on profiling floats, modeling, and data synthesis and management.  The specific goals of this workshop were:

• To identify the ocean carbon and related data that have been collected in the Atlantic Ocean (including Arctic and Southern Ocean sectors) that will contribute to a synthesis of ocean carbon, heat and freshwater transport and storage;
• To document the plans and interests of individual research groups for conducting scientific analysis of ocean carbon and other hydrographic data;
• To establish collaborations between groups based around key science questions; 
• To assess progress with compilations of Atlantic carbon and other hydrographic data (e.g., CARINA data) being carried out as part of CARBOOCEAN;
• To discuss comparisons of methods to estimate anthropogenic CO2.
• To make plans for an Atlantic Ocean synthesis using new integrated and multi-disciplinary approaches, outlining as far as possible joint collaborations, data sharing, data management, quality-control and co-authorship issues.
• To address issues and needs for common methodologies and approaches to be used for syntheses that will be carried out in other basins to ensure a globally-consistent approach

Workshop participants developed three coordinated synthesis groups:  Arctic and Nordic Seas , Sub-Polar and Sub-Tropical Gyres, and Southern Ocean.  These groups identified leaders and key collaborators, refined key questions to address with the syntheses, identified data sets to be used in the syntheses, assigned responsibilities for quality control of each parameter, and discussed key synthesis papers, topics, and co-authors to be developed in the next 12-18 months.  Data, information, and working documents are available through the CarboOcean portal at:  http://www.carboocean.org/ and the IOCCP web-site (www.ioccp.org )

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Maria Hood, Ph.D.
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission UNESCO
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
Tel: +33 (0)1.45.68.40.28
Fax: +33 (0)1.45.68.58.12
Email: m.hood@unesco.org < mailto:m.hood@unesco.org >
International Ocean Carbon Coordination Project ( http://ioc.unesco.org/ioccp )

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