Programme: Copernicus Marine Service
CNR Strategic Area: AP4 EARTH OBSERVATION
Project title: Evaluation of the WAter Mass Balance in Ocean Reanalyses with space geodetic measurements
Acronym: WAMBOR
Role in the project: Partner
Duration: 01/07/2022-30/06/2024
Total budget: € 150 000
ISMAR budget: € 52 000
Web site: n.a.
Summary:
The objective of the WAMBOR (WAter Mass Balance in Ocean Reanalyses) project is to improve the observational constraints on the water mass balance in ocean reanalyses with satellite geodetic measurements. Large uncertainties affect the water mass balance in ocean model forcing. The exchanges of freshwater fluxes between the continents and the ocean rely on climatological estimates of the river discharge, that are by construction unable to capture the full variability of the global water cycle. The GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite gravity missions are able to quantify the redistribution of water masses at the Earth’s surface over nearly two decades (2002 – present day). The WAMBOR project will set up a production chain to estimate ocean mass changes from GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite gravity measurements, that will be extended over the satellite altimetry era (1993 – 2020) with the fusion of several independent data sources. The freshwater fluxes between the continents and the oceans will then be deduced from the water mass balance equation solved at global scale over the ocean and at regional scale over land. Finally, several ocean model experiments will be carried out to test the sensitivity of the ocean circulation to improved freshwater forcing. In summary, the WAMBOR project will prepare the addition of new satellite data (GRACE and GRACE-FO) in the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) and investigate how these new data can improve ocean models and reanalyses.
Contact person in ISMAR: andrea.storto@cnr.it
Partnership:
- 1. Magellium (France)
- 2. CNR-ISMAR (Italy)
