VOCALS is a field campaign to better understand the interactions of the ocean, clouds, air, and land in the Southeastern Pacific. Click on image for full size (141 Kb) Image Courtesy of Robert Wood

How big of a 'laboratory' would you need to conduct experiments on a climate system? Well, that probably depends on which part of Earth's climate system you want to study. In the case of the VOCALS, the VOCALS research team will conduct a series of scientific experiments using the Southeastern Pacific Ocean and the west coasts of Peru and Chile as their 'laboratory.' This region of the world will make a very large laboratory! The VOCALS experiments and observations are planned for the month of October, 2008. The team intends to increase their understanding of the interactions between the South American continent and the Southeast Pacific (SEP) Ocean.

This area of the world is very important to regional and global climates, but the interactions between the ocean, atmosphere, and land in the SEP are not well understood. VOCALS science will produce a better understanding of the SEP climate system and this information will be used to improve global climate models. Better global climate models will lead to more confidence in climate forecasts including predictions about global warming.

The SEP region is characterized by its persistent stratocumulous clouds, fog and drizzle, strong low level winds, ocean currents, nutrient rich marine habitats, cool surface sea temperature, arid desert, and the Andes Mountain range . The processes that link these components of the region are not well understood, making it difficult to represent this area accurately in global climate models. To conduct scientific research on such a large scale, specially equipped airplanes, research ships, buoys, and meteorological towers are being used to make observations and collect data.

Scientists in the VOCALS field campaign are very interested in collecting data that is needed to address a set of questions that fall into two general categories. First, scientists want to explore the interactions between aerosols, clouds and drizzle in the part of the atmosphere near the sea surface known as the marine boundary layer (MBL). These things play an important role in Earth's radiation budget by reflecting sunlight out to space. The second key area of scientific interest is learning about chemical and physical processes that occur between the upper ocean, the atmosphere, and the land. This includes the sampling of mesoscale ocean eddies by the reserach ships.

Learning more about how human activity impacts the SEP climate system will be an important part of VOCALS. For example, how do the aerosols from copper smelters affect cloud formation? If ocean temperatures warm, will there be significant changes in the economically important commercial fishing industry? How will changing climates impact human activity and the economics of this region?

VOCALS is scheduled to take place in the month of October because this is the time of year when the coverage of stratocumulus over the SEP is at its greatest, the southeast trade winds are at their strongest, and the coupling between the upper ocean and the lower atmosphere is most closely linked.

For updates from the scientists during the VOCALS campaign, check out the Postcards from the Field. VOCALS Scientists will be posting updates during the month of October 2008.

VOCALS is a field campaign to better understand the interactions of the ocean, clouds, air, and land in the Southeastern Pacific. Click on image for full size (141 Kb) Image Courtesy of Robert Wood

Scientists know that west coasts of Chile and Peru and the Southeastern Pacific Ocean are a very important part of the global climate system. However, they don't completely understand how the oceans, atmosphere, and land in this area work together to affect climate.

To learn more about how the ocean, atmosphere, and land in this area work together, a team of scientists is going to begin a big project called VOCALS. The VOCALS science team will start a series of scientific experiments using the Southeastern Pacific Ocean and the west coasts of Peru and Chile in South America as their 'laboratory'. To do scientific research in such a big place, special airplanes, research ships, buoys, and meteorological towers are being used to make observations and collect data.

If scientists can learn more about the Southeastern Pacific climate system, they can use this information to improve global climate models and predictions about global warming. The Southeastern Pacific region is known for its stratocumulous clouds, fog and drizzle, strong winds, ocean currents, nutrient rich marine habitats, cool surface ocean temperatures, dry deserts, and the Andes Mountain range.

Scientists in the VOCALS team want to explore the interactions between aerosols, clouds, and drizzle in the part of the atmosphere near the sea surface called the marine boundary layer (MBL). They play an important role in Earth's radiation budget by reflecting sunlight out to space. The scientists also want to learn about chemical and physical processes that occur between the upper ocean, the land, and the atmosphere. Research ships will be taking samples to learn more about the medium sized ocean eddies.

Learning more about how human activity impacts the Southeastern Pacific climate system will be an important part of VOCALS. The scientists will explore how aerosols from copper smelters affect cloud formation. They will also look at how changes in the climate impact the fishing industry in Chile and Peru.

It turns out that October is the best month of the year for the VOCALS experiment, because that is when there are the most stratocumulus clouds over the Southeastern Pacific region and when the winds are the strongest. It is also the time of year when the ocean and atmosphere are most closely linked.

For updates from the scientists during the VOCALS campaign, check out the Postcards from the Field. VOCALS Scientists will be posting updates during the month of October 2008.

VOCALS is a field campaign to better understand the interactions of the ocean, clouds, air, and land in the Southeastern Pacific. Click on image for full size (141 Kb) Image Courtesy of Robert Wood

During the month of October 2008, a team of scientists is going to the Southeastern Pacific Ocean and parts of Chile and Peru. They will make observations and take measurements to learn more about how the ocean, atmosphere, and land work together to affect climate. It's a big project, so it will need special equipment such as airplanes, research ships, buoys, and weather stations to collect data. This project is called VOCALS.

Scientists know that this area is important. It affects climate. VOCALS will help them make better global climate models and predictions about global warming.

Scientists in the VOCALS field campaign are very interested in collecting data that is needed to address scientific questions. They want to learn more about how tiny particulates in the air known as aerosols affect cloud formation. They also want to learn more about the chemical and physical processes that happen between the upper ocean, the land, and the atmosphere.

Learning more about how human activity impacts the Southeast Pacific climate system will be an important part of VOCALS. The scientists will explore how aerosols from copper smelters affect how stratocumulous clouds are formed. They will also look at how changes in the climate impact the fishing industry in Chile and Peru.

It turns out that October is the best month of the year for the VOCALS field experiment. It is the month when there are the most stratocumulus clouds over the Southeastern Pacific and when the winds are the strongest. It is also the time of year when the ocean and atmosphere most closely work together.

For updates from the scientists during the VOCALS campaign, check out the Postcards from the Field. VOCALS Scientists will be posting updates during the month of October 2008.