A decade of synthesis and modeling in the US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study

A decade-long Synthesis and Modeling Project (SMP) was conducted as the final element of the US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). The SMP goal was to synthesize knowledge gained from field studies into a set of models that reflect our current understanding of the oceanic carbon cycle. Specific, innovative aspects of the project included the close partnership among scientists conducting field, laboratory, remote sensing, and numerical research and the strong emphasis on data management and web-based, public release of models and data products. Several recurrent science themes arose across the SMP effort including: the development of a new generation of ocean ecosystem and biogeochemistry models that include iron limitation, flexible elemental composition, size structure, geochemical functional groups, and particle composition; the application of inverse models and data assimilation techniques to marine food-web data; the creation of whole-ocean synthesis products from the JGOFS global CO2 survey and other studies; and the analysis and modeling of ecosystem and biogeochemical responses to climate and CO2 system perturbations on time-scales ranging from seasonal and inter-annual variability to anthropogenic climate warming and longer.