This innovative system could simulate oceans to study global warming

Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the world’s oldest and largest ocean science research centers, are close to inaugurating an unprecedented technological feat: an ocean simulator. Called Soars, the system is 36 meters long and has a 32,000-gallon seawater tank. It will be critical to understanding how the Earth’s oceans are reacting to increasingly fast and worrying climate change.

The name Soar is actually an acronym for Scripps Ocean Atmosphere Research Simulator. The system’s tank will house water coming directly from the Pacific Ocean and, just above it, huge pipelines will blow winds of up to 100 km/h, with a kind of paddle moving the water to simulate the waves of the sea. Today, the simulator is in the final testing phase, with its opening scheduled for next summer.

Currently, oceanographers rely on computer projections to make their climate models and thus understand how Earth’s oceans are behaving in the face of global warming. While quite useful, these models are still raw—that is, they miss out on small but valuable information. Soars will provide unprecedented modeling control, allowing researchers to control details such as water temperature, acidity, wind speed and more.

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In addition to more accurate and near real-time data resolution, the new simulator also brings the benefit of cost savings for conducting research. A study that would need a ship to be carried out can cost upwards of $20,000 a day, whereas that cost with Soars will be between $1,500 and $2,000.

From Soars, many researches can be carried out, not only those that study the evaporation of sea water and the formation of clouds, but also those that relate the warming of the oceans with marine ecosystems and the melting of polar ice. The new technology will also be available to scientists around the world and the data obtained from it will be fundamental to polishing climate models carried out on computers.

For next summer, climate aerosol scientist Paul DeMott of Colorado State University plans to conduct an experiment in which he and his team will be able to manipulate temperatures and wind speeds to understand how small particles form. The survey can be observed from a walkway above the tank, which offers several perspectives, or through a large window, like an aquarium, in the control room.

Among so many fundamental tasks, the oceans have fulfilled the important function of absorbing much of the heat caused by global warming, but it is necessary to understand how this warming is affecting its waters. More than that, it’s important to understand how the oceans play a dynamic role in Earth’s climate. “If we don’t wake up, if we don’t understand the consequences of our behavior, we’re in a very difficult situation,” added Deane.