GOAmazon2014 Workshop Identifies Challenges, Opportunities

 
Published: 23 September 2011


In July, DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) held a 2-day workshop to identify key scientific challenges and opportunities associated with a major field campaign that will occur in 2014—Green Ocean Amazon 2014, or GOAmazon2014—taking place in Manaus, Brazil. During the campaign, several BER programs will deploy observational resources to obtain data for studying one of the most complex climate processes on Earth: the atmosphere-cloud-terrestrial tropical systems that drive tropical deep convection in the Amazon.

More than two dozen process and modeling scientists with expertise in atmospheric and terrestrial ecosystem research participated in the workshop, along with BER program managers and invited speakers. The outcomes of this workshop are summarized in the newly released GOAmazon2014 Workshop Report (DOE/SC-0141), including appendices containing an agenda, participants list, and measurement capabilities collection.

Day 1

BER program managers outlined the goals and structure for the workshop, followed by invited speakers who presented the key areas of scientific focus for the ensuing discussions. Participants then broke into two groups to identify and discuss important unresolved science questions concerning relationships between the terrestrial biosphere, aerosols, and cloud properties under pristine and polluted conditions in the target region. Questions in the following areas resulted from those discussions:

  • Biosphere and Aerosols
  • Chemistry, Aerosols, and Clouds
  • Meteorology and the Biosphere
  • Large Scale versus Local Scale
  • Ecological Aspects

The tiered sampling strategy envisioned for GOAmazon2014 uses scaled levels of instrumentation to increase spatial sampling at proposed sites in the Manaus region.

Day 2

Participants again broke into two groups to identify and discuss the modeling activities and measurement strategies to address the questions identified on Day 1. Generally, these discussions were categorized into the following areas:

  • Pre-experiment Modeling Analysis
  • Development of a Fully Coupled Regional and Global Model
  • Post-experiment Modeling Activities
  • Characterizing the Large-Scale Environment
  • Tier 1 Sites: Thermodynamic and Radiative Measurements
  • Tier 1 Sites: Chemical and Biological Measurements
  • Ecosystem
  • Aerial Facility Measurements

BER staff developed the report based on materials presented by participants, breakout session summaries from discussion leaders, and extensive notes taken by a group of rapporteurs. They will use the report to guide planning for the GOAmazon2014 campaign’s observational and research activities. Visit the GOAmazon2104 website for more information and a link to the report.