The 1994-1996 Arabian Sea Expedition: An integrated, interdisciplinary investigation of the response of the northwestern Indian Ocean to monsoonal forcing

TY - JOUR

T1 - The 1994-1996 Arabian Sea Expedition

T2 - An integrated, interdisciplinary investigation of the response of the northwestern Indian Ocean to monsoonal forcing

AU - Smith, Sharon L.

AU - Codispoti, L. A.

AU - Morrison, John M.

AU - Barber, Richard T.

N1 - Funding Information: The Þnancial support of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research made this possible. Seventy-seven principal investigators and 140 other participants worked enthusiastically to make this expedition successful, from planning workshops through the Þeld work and data workshops to the scientiÞc contributions herein. The cooperation of all participants and the open, generous sharing of data and ideas at all times were particularly gratifying. We were extremely fortunate to enjoy the support of an exceptional research vessel, the R.V. ¹homas G. ¹hompson. Its captains, Glenn Gomes and Al McClenaghan, all of its crew members, and its shore support personnel are gratefully acknowledged. In Muscat, the tireless efforts of the shipÕs agent, Gulf Agency Company, and our science sponsor, Thabit Zahran Al-Abdessalaam, turned a difficult and demanding 16 months into a smooth operation. The logistical efforts of Martin Bowen rescued us from some near-disasters. We thank A. Mariano and E. Ryan for the AVHRR Þgure. This is US JGOFS contribution number 449. Funding Information: The wide range of climatic variability revealed in the Arabian SeaÕs sedimentary record, the inter-annual variability in the strength of monsoons that has been documented for the recent past, and suggestions that the mean strength of monsoons would change under plausible scenarios of climate change all suggest that the Arabian Sea is an excellent environment in which to study biogeochemical cycling and climate change. Since the goals of JGOFS are (1) to determine and understand on a global scale the processes controlling the time-varying ßuxes of carbon and associated biogenic elements in the ocean, and to evaluate the related exchanges with the atmosphere, sea ßoor, and continental boundaries, and (2) to develop a capability to predict on a global scale the response of oceanic biogeochemical processes to anthropogenic perturbations, in particular those related to climate change (SCOR, 1990), it was possible to make a compelling case that the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) should support a major international research effort in the Arabian Sea. Thus, the US portion of the Arabian Sea Expedition went forward (Fig. 1). This expedition was a multidisciplinary oceanographic and atmospheric study conducted with the combined resources of the US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (US JGOFS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Forced Upper Ocean Dynamics Program, an Accelerated Research Initiative (ARI) of the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

PY - 1998/8

Y1 - 1998/8

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032432760&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032432760&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/S0967-0645(98)00058-7

DO - 10.1016/S0967-0645(98)00058-7

M3 - Editorial

AN - SCOPUS:0032432760

VL - 45

SP - 1905

EP - 1915

JO - Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

JF - Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

SN - 0967-0645

IS - 10-11

ER -