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Marine Ecosystem Analysis and Prediction (MEAP-TT)

Introduction

The MEAP Task Team is focused on developing the underpinning science and tools that will further the integration of biogeochemical and ecosystem models into existing ocean operational systems. The Task Team’s mission is to advocate for an expansion of the ocean observing system with respect to biogeochemical and biological properties, to support method development for the assimilation and modelling of Essential Biogeochemical Variables (EBV), to exchange of scientific advances and transfer of capabilities between academic and operational centers of expertise, and to help bridge the gap with end-users.

The area of biogeochemical and ecosystem prediction is of significant societal relevance, supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 (climate change) and 14 (life below water), and supports Blue Growth. It is an area likely to make important advances in the next 5 to 10 years because relevant ocean observing capabilities are rapidly expanding.<

The MEAP-TT is led by the co-chairs:

  • Stefano Ciavatta, Mercator Ocean international, France
  • Liuqian Yu, Hong Kong University
  • and outgoing co-chair Marjy Friedrichs, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, USA

Objectives

  • Drive forward method development focused on two main aspects:
    • the extraction of ecological information from proxy observations (incl. satellite observations of ocean colour and bio-optical measurements from autonomous in-situ sensors), and
    • the development of strongly coupled assimilation of biological and physical observations into ocean models;
  • Advocate for the expansion of global ocean observing capabilities with respect to biogeochemical and biological variables (e.g. via BGC Argo), and guide optimal design including through observing system simulation studies;
  • Contribute to the development and provision of biogeochemical and biological products for end users through assessments of product quality and end user needs;
  • Demonstrate and quantify the improvements in biogeochemical and biological model skill resulting from advances in biogeochemical/biological ocean observation and assimilation, including identification of metrics for system evaluation.

Activities

The MEAP-TT will promote scientific collaboration and deliver joint outputs of team members by:

  • Meeting in periodic video conferences (every three months)
  • Meeting annually in person at Task Team workshops
  • Convening MEAP theme sessions at international conferences (e.g. EGU, Ocean Sciences, AMEMR)
  • Editing special issues in Journals (e.g. Special Issue on Biogeochemical-Argo modelling in Biogeosciences)
  • Co-authorship of horizon publications and influential reports (e.g. Fennel et al., 2019; ETOOFS manual, Ocean State Reports)
  • Engagement of ecosystem analysis and prediction stakeholders (e.g. IMBER, OceanSITES, BGC-Argo)

 

MEAP-TT Members

 

No First name  Last name Affiliation Country Role
 1 Laurent Bertino NERSC Norway Member
 2 Pierre Brasseur CNRS/IGE France Member
 3 Chris Brown NOAA USA Member
 4 Fei Chai University of Maine USA Member
 5 Kunal Chakraborty INCOIS India Member
 6 Stefano Ciavatta Mercator Ocean international France Co-chair
 7 Gianpiero Cossarini OGS Italy Member
 8 Stephanie Dutkiewicz MIT USA Member
 9 Chris Edwards UCSC USA Member
10 Katja Fennel Dalhousie University Canada Member
11 David Ford Met Office UK Member
12 Shan Gao NMEFC China Member
13 Marilaure Gregoire University of Liege Belgium Member
14 Elodie Gutknecht Mercator Ocean international France Member
15 Dante M L Horemans Virginia Institute of Marine Science USA New member
16 Youichi Ishikawa Kyoto University/ JAMSTEC Japan Member
17 Emlyn Jones CSIRO Australia Member
18 Hae-Cheol Kim NOAA USA Member
19 Julien Lamouroux Mercator Ocean international France Member
20 Patrick Lehodey CLS France Member
21 Paul Mattern UCSC USA Member
22 Ragu Murtugudde ESSIC/ University of Maryland USA Member
23 Helen Powley PML UK Member
24 Coralie Perruche Mercator Ocean international France Member
25 Ariane Verdy Scripps Institution of Oceanography USA Member
26 Marcello Vichi University of Cape Town South Africa Member
27 Tsuyoshi Wakamatsu NERSC Norway Member
28 Yongsheng Wu BIO Canada Member
28 Liuqian Yu The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology China Co-chair

 

Patron champion:

Eric Bayler, NOAA, USA

 

Status: March 2024

Workshops and meetings

An important  activity of the MEAP-TT is to organise regular workshops. In order to increase collaboration, these workshops are often held jointly with other TTs or groups.

 

MEAP-TT has started a new series of online MEAP-TT seminars:

Seminars Date Topic
MEAP-TT-online seminar 8 7 Feb 2024 Analyzing and modeling juvenile sea turtle dispersal
MEAP-TT online seminar 7 6 Dec 2023 From physics to fish: impact of two-way coupling between a higher and lower trophic level model on carbon cycling on the North West European Shelf
MEAP-TT online seminar 6 31 oct 2023 Machine Learning for Multivariate Data Assimilation in Biogeochemical Models
MEAP-TT online seminar 5 4 Oct 2023 Science talk: Biogeochemical (BGC) Argo data calibrate model parameters and model parameterizations for simulating the biological carbon pump (Bin Wang, Dalhousie University)
MEAP-TT online seminar 4 6 Sep 2023 How including bio-optics improves biogeochemical models: present and future perspectives
MEAP-TT training workshop 5 July 2023 Hands-on workshop on the use of the SEAMLESS prototype (https://seamlessproject.org/SEAMLESS_Prototype)
MEAP-TT online seminar 3 1 June 2023 Carbon fluxes
MEAP-TT online seminar 2 3 May 2023 Ecosystem modelling (e.g., HTLs, habitats, …)
MEAP-TT online seminar 1 1 Dec 2022 Integration of “new” observation in models

MEAP-TT online TT meetings

MEAP-TT meetings Date Topics Location
4th MEAP-TT online meeting 10 June 2022
  • Sharing of recent science highlights
  • Planning of MEAP-TT engagement with the UN Decade Programmes and Projects
  • Planning of other future activities
Virtual meeting, MS Teams
3rd MEAP-TT online meeting  10 June 2021
  • Ensemble generation and evaluation
Virtual meeting, MS Teams
2nd MEAP-TT online meeting 10 March 2021
  • Implementing Darwin in ROMS: Initial results from regional simulations with a complex ecosystem model
  • Overview of the EU H2020 SEAMLESS project
  • MEAP-TT contribution to  the UN Decade
Virtual meeting, MS Teams
1st MEAP-TT online meeting 14 Oct 2020
  • Assessment of the CMEMS Global biogeochemical forecasting operational system
  • Introduction of OceanSites
Virtual meeting, MS Teams

 

Since 2012, the MEAP-TT held three workshops

Meeting history (under GODAE OceanView)

→ Joint DA/MEAP-TT workshop 2016, Santa Cruz, USA

→ MEAP-TT Workshop 2015, Halifax, Canada

→ MEAP-TT Workshop 2012, Exeter, UK

 

 

Documents

Meeting reports:

TT quad-chart

The task team quad-chart provides a quick glance at the TT’s activities, achievements and future plans.

 

Marine Ecosystem Analysis and Prediction Task Team (MEAP-TT) – June 2021
Short description and objectives of the activities started/planned for this year:
Accomplishments of the TT this year:
Main activities:

Main objective: To promote the expansion, modelling and assimilation of global ocean observing capabilities with respect to biogeochemical and biological variables (e.g. via BGC Argo and gliders) to advance the prediction and exploitation of essential biogeochemical variables

Milestone: Kick-off the biogeochemical component of a UN Ocean Decade project for a predictable ocean ecosystem

Main achievements:

  • Contribution of the biogeochemical components of the UN Ocean Decade programme ForeSea and project SynObs proposals
  • Editing the special issue of Biogeosciences/Ocean Science issue on “Biogeochemistry in the BGC-Argo era: from process studies to ecosystem forecasts“
  • Contributions to the The Global Biogeochemical-Argo Fleet: Knowledge to Action Workshop, linked to the G7 FSOI
  • Hold three video-meetings of the TT, hosting representatives of the OceanSites community and the CMEMS BGC-DA group
  • Kick-off of the H2020 SEAMLESS project on ensemble biogeochemical data assimilation for operational oceanography
Future plans to continue/ improve current activities:
Issues/ problems:
Main future plans:

  • Engage key observational (e.g. OceanSite, Bio-Argo, GOOS), modelling/assimilation (e.g. CMEMS BGC-DA) and policy (e.g. G7 FSOI) stakeholders
  • Hold targeted team workshops and questionnaires on topics relevant to this year main objective, e.g. ecosystem ensemble simulations, multi-platform data assimilation, high trophic level modelling
  • Deliver the biogeochemical chapter of the ETOOFS manual on operational oceanography
Main issues:

  • Difficulty to ensure a good representation of the biogeochemical modelling communities in the South American and African continents
  • Difficulty to carry out concrete actions (e.g. intercomparison projects) on best effort basis (enthusiasm during planning dies off rapidly as it implies extra work added to an in general already heavy load)

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