{"id":759,"date":"2020-04-16T09:48:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T08:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cimafoundation.org\/2020\/04\/20\/vortexes-hunters\/"},"modified":"2022-09-29T08:19:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T08:19:26","slug":"vortexes-hunters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/news\/vortexes-hunters\/","title":{"rendered":"Vortexes hunters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As part of the\nEUREC4<\/sup>A project, dedicated to the study of the relationships between\nclouds, oceans and climate, Agostino Meroni and Anna Napoli, collaborators in\nthe Meteorology and Climate Department, participated in a campaign at sea\nchasing the eddies, oceanic whirlpools, to investigate their interactions with\natmospheric dynamics<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a close reciprocal relationship between\nclouds, oceans and climate: clouds contribute to regulating the temperature of\nthe planet, while oceans influence the Earth’s atmosphere, and climate can in\nturn influence the oceans and (indirectly) the characteristics of clouds. The\nchange of clouds will in turn have an effect on the climate, and so on, in a\ncontinuous circle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand in detail the mechanisms by which these elements change and influence each other, EUREC<\/a>4<\/a><\/sup>A<\/a>, an international initiative using satellite and ground-based remote sensing, advanced modeling and new automatic measurement systems, was held between January 20th<\/sup> and February 20th<\/sup>. Within EUREC4<\/sup>A, scientists from around the world also worked on the field: they had to fly or sail, as did Agostino Meroni, researcher at the Politecnico di Milano, and Anna Napoli, PhD student at the University of Genoa, both collaborators in our Meteorology and Climate Department<\/a>. In January, they took part in a month-long campaign at sea, EUREC4A_OA<\/a>. During this period, spent aboard the research vessel L’Atalante<\/em>, they collected the data necessary to study the complex interaction between ocean, clouds and climate, starting from the Caribbean Sea and ending off the coast of French Guiana. We asked them to tell us about this experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently,\nclouds are well known objects: we know how they are made, the atmospheric\nphenomena in which they participate… Why is it so important to know them\nbetter? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agostino: Actually, clouds represent the great unknown\nof climate models. They are complex, vary rapidly over time and are controlled\nby mechanisms that take place on a microscopic scale, with the phase changes of\nthe tiny droplets that make them up. This makes them difficult to study and,\nconsequently, current climate models have great uncertainties. Furthermore, we\nknow that they play a dual role in climate regulation: they reflect part of the\nradiation emitted by the sun, helping to cool the earth’s surface and, at the\nsame time, they trap the thermal energy emitted by the earth, thus increasing\nthe temperature. However, some of the mechanisms by which they act are not yet\nfully known. And for studying the clouds, we must also study the sea, which\ninfluences the Earth’s atmosphere in several ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EUREC4<\/sup>A\nproject wants to investigate different atmospheric and climatic mechanisms,\nwhich are closely intertwined. What exactly was the purpose of the campaign you\ntook part in? Which of these was it dedicated to?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna<\/strong>: Our\nresearch group was dedicated to the study of the so-called marine forcer, i.e.\nthe role of the ocean in atmospheric dynamics, such as winds and cloud\nproperties. In particular, we worked on the relationship between the atmosphere\nand eddies, circular oceanic vortexes that are formed from strong ocean\ncurrents, such as the Gulf or – in our case – Brazilian currents. The\ninteresting aspect of eddies is that they carry water with physico-chemical\nproperties different from the surrounding ones, for example in terms of\ntemperature or salinity. This means that they represent abrupt variations in\nocean properties: our aim was to investigate how these variations affect the\natmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The launch of a radiosounding, i.e. a probe mounted on a latex balloon inflated with helium that measures temperature, humidity, wind direction and intensity, so as to give information on the vertical structure of the atmosphere. The balloon can reach an altitude of 20-25 km and, being equipped with a parachute, can also take measurements during the descent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But why did the\ncampaign take place in the tropics?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agostino<\/strong>: Because they have atmospheric and oceanic characteristics that are particularly interesting for this type of research. On the one hand, in fact, they receive a great quantity of light, and therefore energy, from the sun throughout the year, that the atmospheric and oceanic currents then transport to the Poles. On the other hand, even the clouds themselves that characterize the tropical regions, the so-called “trade-cumulus”, are thought to play a fundamental role for the climate of the entire globe: they are in fact a persistent characteristic of the region, and observing them for a certain period of time makes it possible to understand the diurnal cycle, the mechanisms of formation and, possibly, to predict their dynamics, also taking into account the possible effects of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your work is\nusually done in the office: wasn’t it difficult to change and start working in\nthe field?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna<\/strong>:\nActually, the most difficult part was getting used to the rigid shifts: we had\nonly one month to do it, and a lot of data to collect. Our days were therefore\nset to four-hour shifts, which also covered the nights. In a short time,\nhowever, we got used to it! And we were also lucky: there weren’t too many\nsummer showers, which in the tropics are very strong and make it really\ndifficult to take measurements on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A rosette with CTD, which is used to make a vertical profile in the ocean. Several sensors are mounted on it; among them, an ADCP to measure currents; the CTD itself which measures salinity, temperature and pressure; an oxygen sensor and a fluorescence sensor; and finally the bottles which are used to sample water at different depths. Salinity and oxygen measurements can be taken on water samples to ensure that there are no systematic errors in the profiles, and nutrient measurements can be made<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And what about\nthe type of research? What’s the difference between carrying them out in front\nof a computer and carrying them out at sea?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agostino<\/strong>: They\nwere a great added value to the experience! We are used to working with\nnumerical models, which give back a parameterized and simplified reality. But\nclimate science, like all sciences, starts from observational data and it is\nimportant to be able to touch them: understand how measurements are taken, what\nlimits they have, and go back from the virtual world of models to the complex\nworld of natural reality. It allows us to have a more complete view of the\nmosaic of meteorology and climatology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers\non board the <\/em>Atalante formed\nan international and heterogeneous group. This must have enabled a vast\nexchange of knowledge…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anna<\/strong>: On\nboard there was what I called “research air”, perhaps the most\nimportant thing that left me with this experience. We were able to confront\neach other continuously, ask questions, learn, and explain our work with other\nresearchers, each with their own professional experience in the meteorological\nand climatic sciences. This is a continuous stimulus to ask other questions, to\ndeepen and study: it is the lifeblood of scientific research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the EUREC4A project, dedicated to the study of the relationships between clouds, oceans and climate, Agostino Meroni and Anna Napoli, collaborators in the Meteorology and Climate Department, participated in a campaign at sea chasing the eddies, oceanic whirlpools, to investigate their interactions with atmospheric dynamics There is a close reciprocal relationship between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,126],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-meteorology-and-climate","tag-south-america"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cimafoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}