Field Work

The project aims to establish a world-class shipborne research infrastructure to measure air-sea interaction processes and integrate sea state measurements with lower atmosphere and upper ocean observations aboard research vessels. The project is timely and will deliver new standards in measuring fundamental processes and properties, sustaining Australian leadership in Antarctic and Southern Ocean expeditions, and underpinning the national effort to build the next generation of Earth system models.

The Southern Ocean plays a crucial role in the Earth’s climate system by storing incoming energy from the sun and transferring it back to the atmosphere in the form of heat and moisture, driving atmospheric circulation. Waves in the Southern Ocean contribute to a well-mixed layer that can store more heat and gases, including greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, than any other latitude band on the planet. However, the effects of waves and sea ice on the climate system are not fully understood and remain poorly represented in climate models. In situ observations of the ocean and sea ice surface are critical to improving our understanding of these processes, but such observations are currently limited. Multidisciplinary expeditions that unite Earth science and engineering disciplines are beginning to explore the interplay of processes in the lower atmosphere, ocean surface, and subsurface in the Southern Ocean. These expeditions use pioneering shipborne imaging technology to record data on waves, wave breaking, surface current, and sea ice properties in support of lower atmosphere observations.