SOLAS
Programme background
The research will improve our ability to predict climate change, giving insights into the natural marine production and fate of important trace gases. It will show whether these processes are sensitive to other environmental factors. Climate modellers and policy makers need such information.
The programme is the main British contribution to the International SOLAS project. UK SOLAS is also working closely with NERC's Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System programme.
UK SOLAS aims to:
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identify important trace gas production and loss processes in the surface ocean
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determine the impact of dynamic physical, chemical and biological processes on trace gas production and breakdown in the marine environment, with particular emphasis on the microbial loop
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improve understanding of the atmospheric transport, cycling and deposition of dust and nutrients
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assess how important the oceans are as a source of aerosols, and what influences the dynamics of marine aerosols
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determine the role of trace gas emissions in modifying the oxidising capacity of the atmosphere
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reduce uncertainty in our knowledge of how trace gases move between the air and sea
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determine the role of the ocean surface in regulating two-way transfers of compounds between air and sea.