MULTI-SITE WORKSHOP

FilaChange, an international conference on ocean processes linking filaments and fine scales (1-100 km) with climate change

29 August – 2 September 2022

A SWOT-AdAC and CLIVAR-OMDP initiative

Venues and programs:

Summary of Day 1

Summary of Day 2

Workshop description

The Earth system has complex dynamics, characterized by feedbacks among biophysical processes occurring at a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. Disentangling these complex feedbacks is needed to predict climate change scenarios at high accuracy. This knowledge also forms the basis for planning effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, as well as sustainable environmental policies over the coming decades.

Due to their size, the fine scales (i.e. spatial scales of 1–100 km) are not resolved in most Earth System Models and provide a major challenge for global observing systems. Nevertheless, they play a pivotal role in climate dynamics, by storing and directing the flow of energy across the ocean scales, and by strongly modulating the ocean biogeochemical cycles as well as air-sea and ice-sea interactions.

The fine scales affect the distribution and behavior of marine biota, forming the skeleton of the open ocean seascape where major conservation programs are planned in the coming years under international initiatives like “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction” and “High Ambition Coalition”. Understanding these dynamics is also critically important in the early phase of marine pollution accidents, during which the dispersion of the pollutants is controlled by horizontal stirring.

This workshop aims at identifying recent advancements and future challenges in all these facets of fine scale ocean dynamics, bringing together scientists from different disciplines in oceanography – geophysical fluid dynamics, biophysical interactions, climate model parameterization and numerics, observational oceanography, climate analysis – and societal applications.

The workshop is especially suited for providing training and interdisciplinary skills to early career scientists and (under)graduate students on the emerging topic of the workshop.

Special emphasis will be given to the synergies between models and observations, with a focus on emerging inversion/assimilation techniques, Lagrangian methods, and on the opportunities opened by next-generation in situ and remote sensing finescale platforms, like the incoming SWOT satellite mission.

Sessions

SessionDescription
1The energy cascade and heat/material transport in Earth System Models
2Biodiversity and biogeochemistry in the global ocean
3Emerging finescale observing systems, inversion methods, data assimilation
4Air Sea fluxes
5The role of finescale science in conservation and management: contaminant dispersion (oil, plastic,..), eutrophication, fisheries, and planning of marine protected areas.

Format

1 week (5 days)

Multisite organization

The workshop FilaChange will take place over multiple sites from 29 August to 2 September 2022. The meetings will align online for a short virtual catch-up or conveyance meeting each day.

Intercontinental flights are recommended only to early career scientists and (under)graduate students (for which some grants will be provided), as well as to a few keynote speakers. This recommendation (not an obligation) is meant to sharply reduce the carbon footprint of the conference. The reduction in carbon footprint will be estimated quantitatively. This format will also be effective in ensuring the workshop is resilient to uncertain pandemic travel restrictions, by limited oversea trip planning. The sites are:

  • Campus Pierre et Marie Curie, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
  • Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
  • Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
  • CSIRO, Hobart, Australia

Preliminary list of keynote speakers (to be confirmed *)

Bàrbara Barceló-Llull (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), Alberto Baudena (LOV), Fei Chai (Second Institute of Oceanography, MNR), Ge Chen (Ocean University of China), Stephanie Dutkiewicz* (MIT), Changming Dong (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Vincent Echevin* (LOCEAN-IPSL), Tom Farrar (WHOI), Mick Follows* (MIT), Peter Franks* (Scripps, UCSD), Lee-Lueng Fu (NASA JPL), Daniele Iudicone* (SZN), Marina Lévy* (LOCEAN-IPSL), Amala Mahadevan* (WHOI), Bo Qiu* (University of Hawaii), Laure Resplandy* (Princeton University), Lia Siegelman (Scripps, UCSD), Sabrina Speich (ENS), Leif Thomas* (Stanford University), Jiwei Tian (Ocean University of China), Weidong Yu (Sun Yat-sen University).

Programs

PARIS, PROVIDENCE, QINGDAO, HOBART

Organizing Committee

Francesco d’Ovidio (LOCEAN-IPSL and SWOT-AdAC), Mara Freilich (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD), Baylor Fox-Kemper (Brown University), Zhao Jing (Ocean University of China and Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology), Benoit Legresy (CSIRO), Tosca Ballerini (Thalassa and SWOT-AdAC).

Sponsors and endorsment

The workshop is sponsored by AAPP, CLIVAR, CNES, CSIRO, Ecce Terra, IPSL, NASA, OUC, IRP CAS-CNRS DYF2M, Sorbonne Université and benefited from the French state aid managed by the ANR under the “Investissements d’avenir” programme with the reference ANR-11-IDEX-0004 -17-EURE-0006.

The workshop has been endorsed as an Activity of the UN Ocean Decade.

Travel grants for Early Career Researchers

A few travel grants for Early Career Researchers (including PhD students) are available.

Send an email before 31st May to filachange2022@thalassa.one with:

  • a letter of motivation with the indication of the site where you would like to travel,
  • your CV,
  • an estimation of your costs.

How to register

Please register and send your abstract by 10th July at: https://finescales2022.sciencesconf.org