Project Title

Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling

Principle Investigator

Jorge Sarmiento

Project Description

The Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project (SOCCOM) is an NSF-sponsored program focused on unlocking the mysteries of the Southern Ocean and determining its influence on climate. Housed at Princeton University and administered by the Princeton Environmental Institute, SOCCOM draws on the strengths of teams of investigators across the U.S. as well as participating in international observational and simulation efforts.

SOCCOM’s mission is to drive a transformative shift in the scientific and public understanding of the role of the vast Southern Ocean in climate change and biogeochemistry. The goals of the program are to:

• Extend sparse Southern Ocean biogeochemical observations by deploying a robotic observing system composed of ~200 autonomous floats that will provide nearly continuous coverage in time and horizontal space over the entire Southern Ocean, as well as vertical coverage deep into the water column.
• Using this observational data, analyze and improve a new generation of high resolution earth system models to both increase our understanding of the Southern Ocean’s current workings and make better projections of the future trajectory of the Earth’s climate and biogeochemistry.
• Educate a new generation of ocean scientists trained in both ocean observation and simulation, and develop a sophisticated outreach effort to disseminate results to the broadest possible community.

Project links to RoSES

The project will be represented at the RoSES/ORCHESTRA Annual Science Meetings each summer. The PI of SOCCOM, Jorge Sarmiento, is on the Programme Advisory Group.