Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L009242/1
Variability of the western inflow routes of Atlantic water into the northern North Sea
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor K Heywood, University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of East Anglia, Environmental Sciences
- Science Area:
- Marine
- Overall Classification:
- Marine
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- The European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, adopted in June 2008) aims to protect more effectively the marine environment across Europe. It aims to achieve good environmental status of the EU's marine waters by 2020 and to protect the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. Under the MSFD, the UK is responsible for monitoring and managing its waters in the North Sea. The North Sea offers resources such as marine renewables, fisheries and commercial shipping, as well as tourist and leisure industries. If you imagine the North Sea as a bath tub, the taps adding water are the various inflows in the northern North Sea, around and between Scotland and the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Relatively little water enters through the English Channel. The goal of this PhD project is to assess how and why the strength of the various taps varies. This is important because it affects the wellbeing of the North Sea (its 'good environmental status') such as its ecosystem health, its productivity, its oxygen, and its role as a carbon pump. If we want to ensure the long-term wellbeing of the North Sea in the context of a warming climate, we need to better understand the variability of the water that flows into it. The project will make use of two exciting new technologies being brought together for the first time in the UK. The first is a deployment of high frequency radars. Based on the Orkney and Shetland Islands, these radars measure the surface current velocity field over tens of kilometres of the northern North Sea. They will be operational in autumn/winter 2013 as part of the Brahan demonstration project led by the CASE partner Marine Scotland Science (MSS). This project has been designed by MSS to help to address key issues in how to direct resources for management and monitoring of the North Sea. During the radar operation, the University of East Anglia (UEA) will deploy a Seaglider, an autonomous underwater vehicle that profiles up and down measuring the properties of the water. Supporting these cutting-edge technologies will be a raft of tried-and-tested techniques including surface drifters, moored instruments and ship-based observations. The student will use all of these, together with freely-available, high-resolution numerical ocean/shelf-seas model output from various UK modelling groups, to understand better what turns each tap on or off. The two primary partners in the project are MSS and UEA, but it is expected that the student will also liaise with colleagues in Heriot-Watt university (project partner) and in Cefas (Strategic Alliance partner with UEA). MSS brings to the studentship the Brahan project, and a wealth of historical data including moored time series, as well as detailed knowledge of the North Sea circulation and its related open questions. UEA brings to the studentship expertise in Seaglider operation and analysis, as well as expertise in oceanographic data analysis and numerical modelling. Although the in situ data sets will have been collected before the student starts, the student will have the opportunity to participate in further seagoing expeditions and in Seaglider campaigns, as part of their training in oceanographic research techniques. The student will assess the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different data sets in answering the research questions. The project offers an exciting opportunity for a student to be involved in the early stages of designing the UK Integrated Marine Observing Network (UK-IMON). Their work is likely to be valuable for assessing how the UK can most cost-effectively observe its marine environment and ensure its good environmental status.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L009242/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £83,515
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|
| £16,226 | £11,000 | £56,292 |
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