Lead institution:
Universidade Federal Fluminense – Brazil
The lack of oceanographic data from the South Atlantic Ocean is a limiting factor to validate biogeochemical models, which impact the understanding of several ocean processes relevant for coastal communities.
Data collected in the southeast coast of Brazil will be used to test the ability of ESPER (Empirical Seawater Property Estimation Routines), trained on global datasets, to estimate biogeochemical variables based on water temperature, salinity and other readily available variables.
The state of Rio de Janeiro presents an extensive and diverse coastline ideal for data acquisition (including pristine, degraded, and upwelling areas).
The results will identify similarities, differences, and gaps in the application of the ESPER routines on the Brazilian coast compared with global models. Besides, it will evaluate the capacity of these regions to serve as carbon sinks and assess the impacts of climate change.
This methodology will be applied for the first time on the Brazilian coast.
Start Date:3/3/2025
End Date: 3/3/2027
Lead Contact: Julio Wasserman (juliowasserman@id.uff.br)