The major elements of this initiative are: 



• Ocean color imagery and other satellite-derived data which provide global and synoptic 



sea-surface boundary conditions; 



• Further development of critical sampling technology to measure or infer 



material fluxes in the ocean system over a wide range of time and space scales; 



• Extensive field observation programs focused on critical processes, regions, and/or time 



periods and ultimately Integrated with satellite-derived surface boundary conditions; and 



• Development of modeling capabilities for global fluxes in the context of improved 



general circulation models of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. 



The incremental costs of this program total about $70M between FY 1 988 and FY 1 992. Major 

 emphasis during this period would be in planning, data analysis, technology, numerical model 

 development, and pilot experiments for testing system integration and defining observational 

 requirements. This would phase into long-term global observational programs starting in FY 

 1 993 and costing about $25M annually. This full-scale phase would be closely coupled with 

 satellite observation programs on surface productivity and circulation as well as with coastal 

 boundary observational efforts. Ship and facility support costs are included. 



Coastal Ocean Dynamics and Fluxes 



The other major component required for a study of global ocean flux is scientific understanding 

 of coastal oceanography for dealing with pollutant dispersal and fisheries management and for 

 understanding the influence of climate and weather. The coastal ocean is also a most significant 

 environmental boundary zone - a temporary sink for materials eroded from the continents, a 

 mixing pot for river outflows and marine waters, a region of high biological productivity, and a 

 source for much of the dissolved and particulate material flux to the open ocean. The developing 

 technical and conceptual ability to study this region as an integrated physical, chemical, and 

 biological system provides a significant, long-term opportunity to advance our understanding of 

 the dynamics of coastal regions and the fluxes of material through them. Coordinated 

 investigations under the Land/Sea Interface Program will provide information on the 

 interconnections of land, fresh waters, and estuaries that is needed for studying inputs to the 

 coastal ocean. 



Some scientific questions to be addressed are: 



• How do winds and atmospheric pressure fields, mean currents, bottom topography, river 



outflow, and internal shelf waves interact with one another to form the continually 

 evolving mosaic of surface currents, upwelling centers, eddies, and jets? 



• To what extent can these rapidly changing currents be forecast and what parameters 



require monitoring for such forecasts? 



• How do the geographical setting and physical dynamics quantitatively influence particulate 



and dissolved matter, the seafloor, and biological productivity and evolution in coastal and 

 estuarine regions? 



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