Group Leader:  Doug Capone

Objective: To promote the improved understanding of nitrogen fixation at the process level and to incorporate that knowledge into predictive parameterizations for local, regional and global models.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that nitrogen fixation plays a key biogeochemical role in the subtropical oceans and that the overall fixation rates may be significantly larger than previously thought. This working group is built around a core of SMP investigators, funded under Doug Capone's grant to study nitrogen fixation, and other interested individuals including several from the global modeling groups. The goals of the group are to:

• Promote interaction of field biologists studying N₂ fixation and modelers;
• Specifically discuss controls on marine N₂ fixation and appropriate modeling approaches;
• Discuss anomalies in existing data and identify critical data gaps;
• Discuss coupling satellite remote sensing with modeling efforts;
• Develop data bases and provide access to data sets on oceanic N₂ fixation for model calibration/ verification;
• Consider physiological as well as geochemical approaches to modeling marine N₂ fixation;

• An initial workshop will be scheduled for late this fall or early next spring.  It would most likely be in the Chesapeake region as we only have limited resources to support travel of our PIs.
• Provide and interface between the JGOFS SMP program and the upcomingseries of SCOPE workshops on global and marine N₂ fixation and modeling to be held this Fall and next spring.

Possible Others:
R. Armstrong
J. Sarmiento
J. Zehr
F. Lipschultz
P. Falkowski