Research

The research of CMOP is driven by three grand challenges:

(1) To determine the impact of climate on the physical and biological conditions and the variability of coastal margins,

(2) To identify the role of coastal margins on global elemental cycles, and

(3) To characterize the seaward extent of the impact of human activities.

CMOP will advance our understanding of coastal margins in general and of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) coastal margin in particular, by providing a common infrastructure for observations and models that researchers of diverse disciplines – within and outside CMOP – will use to address these grand challenges.

CMOP, a river-to-ocean observatory, will generate crucially needed, long-term physical, chemical, and biological information through tightly integrated observations and predictions. CMOP enabling technologies will include modeling and simulation, sensors and platforms, and information and visualization concepts and technologies.

CMOP research is organized around 3 overlapping themes:

Theme I, Coastal margin observatories: Long-term, quantitative descriptions of the chemistry and biology of coastal margins have not yet been feasible in the past due to limitations in technology and research infrastructure, which has severely limited our understanding of ecosystem conditions and variability. CMOP projects in Theme I will result in the integrated development and sustained functionality of Science and Technology University Research Network (SATURN), a new river-to-ocean testbed observatory for the PNW. Through the observation, modeling, and information-delivery capabilities of SATURN, we will make major strides towards real-time, annual, and inter-annual descriptions of coastal margin physical, chemical, and biological variables.

Theme II, Coastal margin science: With the observation and prediction capabilities of SATURN, we will achieve a transformative understanding of the structure and activity of coastal margin microbial and planktonic communities, the roles of these communities in regional productivity and in the carbon cycle, and the dependency of these communities on climate, water withdrawals, and flow regulation. With this improved understanding, we will make significant headway in refining and testing the following hypotheses for the PNW coastal margin:

Hypothesis 1: The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and the Columbia River flow modulate the annual and inter-annual variability of (a) the location, persistence, and extent of forcing events and high-gradient regions (E-GRs), (b) the regional productivity of microbial and planktonic communities, and (c) the air-sea carbon flux.

Hypothesis 2: The structures and activities of microbial and planktonic communities in the PNW coastal margin are transformed by E-GRs that: (a) create the physical opportunities and the abundance of elements needed to foster the growth of these communities, (b) change the magnitude and direction of critical air-sea fluxes, and (c) modify environmental stresses on these communities.

Hypothesis 3: E-GRs have identifiable signatures–and predictable impacts–on the biological productivity and carbon fluxes across the entire coastal margin.

Hypothesis 4: Climate and the use of Columbia River water have identifiable signatures–and predictable impacts–on river-to-ocean physical/chemical gradients that constitute environmental stresses for microbial and planktonic communities.

Theme III, Enabling technologies: There are many technological challenges and opportunities across all component systems of SATURN. Through projects in Theme III, CMOP will eliminate an evolving range of existing technology barriers in the areas of modeling, sensing, and information delivery, as well as at their interfaces. We will choose, over time, which challenges to meet by developing fundamentally new methods and technologies and which challenges to address by adopting and adding value to emerging technologies. For many of these efforts, CMOP will partner with industry – from small, ocean-sensor companies to small and large companies engaged in genomics, grid computing, and operational ocean robotics.

CMOP aims to ensure that SATURN remains responsive to – and, ultimately, ahead of – the observation and prediction needs of the researchers investigating the CMOP science hypotheses.