SOCIB was present at the "Altimetry for Oceans and Hydrology/Applications Workshop"

SOCIB was present at the "Altimetry for Oceans and Hydrology/Applications Workshop", October 21-22, Lisboa (http://www.ostst-hydro-2010.com) where the major oceanographic contributions related to the launch in 2020 of the satellite containing SWOT (Swath Wide Ocean Altimeter, http://www.legos.obsmip.fr/recherches/missions/water/mission.html) where presented. The new monitoring capabilities that SWOT will provide outlined the importance of mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics that was specially recognized in relation to its effects on upper ocean vertical exchanges and ecosystem response, including obviously CO2 vertical exchanges.

IMEDEA research progress and SOCIB ongoing activities were presented by Ananda Pascual and Jerome Bouffard (these are joint contributions between IMEDEA-TMOOS and SOCIB researchers and engineers). The joint observational and numerical approach carried out at IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) for more than two decades to unravel the questions related to three-dimensional ageostrophic motions associated with mesoscale dynamics is, from 2010 onwards, being extended and maintained by SOCIB (including multi-platform and integrated approaches). This approach was considered during the meeting as one of the key ways forward to understand vertical exchanges associated with mesoscale and submesoscale structures, a crucial component of today's research on the ocean's response to climate change.

At the end of the meeting, a round table (for the Ocean section: Joaquin Tintoré, SOCIB and IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB)-ESP; Raffaele Ferrari, MIT-US; Bertrand Chapron, IFREMER-FR; Yi Chao, NASA/JPL-US) and Patrice Klein; IFREMER-FR, as well as organiser, Rosemary Morrow LEGOS-FR, highlighted the main ideas on key issues for observing the fine resolution variations for ocean applications from space in the next decade. Major elements discussed were: the new capabilities with SWOT for resolving meso and sub-mesoscale structures and associated lateral and vertical eddy transports (in particular in the coastal ocean where synergies between hydrologic and oceanographic communities is foreseen). The importance of new high resolution observations to avoid models becoming 'un-testable' (Carl Wunsh), the increased data assimilation and operational capabilities foreseen, and the importance of integrated multi-platform approaches (ships, gliders, Lagrangian floats, aircrafts, etc.).

The 'W DECADE': considering that initial measurements of vertical motions were carried out in the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lyon) back in 1969, the progress made since then, and the new developments described in this meeting on the theoretical, numerical, observational and technological components of this topic, an interesting suggestion on launching the 'W DECADE' for the next 10 years was made during the round table. Supersites where mentioned as an interesting possibility for sustained monitoring for calibration and validation activities. SOCIB Implementation Plan perfectly matches theses conclusions and suggestions.