Nov. 19 Lecture – Oceanic Robots

Probing the ocean carbon cycle with autonomous robots

with Prof. Jim Bishop

Saturday November 19, 2016 at 11:00 AM

100 Genetics and Plant Biology Building, UC Berkeley

Is the very fast Ocean Biological Carbon Pump Stable? Berkeley’s new generation of autonomous robots aim to find out.

The ocean’s biological carbon pump (OBCP) moves 10 Pg (1 Pg=10^15 grams) of carbon per year from surface waters to the deep sea. The strength of the pump is the same as present human emissions of CO2 (as carbon) to the atmosphere. Without the OBCP, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would go up by 30%. Is the pump stable? This presentation provides an overview of the role of ocean biology in the global carbon cycle and of robotic methods being developed at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory to address this question.

 

Jim Bishop Professor Bishop is a faculty senior scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Area and a professor of marine science at UC Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science. Bishop invented the Carbon Flux Explorer robots used to study the transport of carbon and other elements by ocean biology. Before this trip, Bishop has logged about 1.9 years at sea from 44 oceanographic expeditions. This free public talk is presented as part of the monthly “Science@Cal Lecture Series” Event Contact: scroft@astro.berkeley.edu