The Keck Institute for Space Studies presents a short course on: Satellites, Ocean Robots and the Marine Carbon Cycle

The ocean serves as an enormous reservoir for carbon in the Earth's climate system.  Our ability to observe, model and quantify exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, the terrestrial biosphere and ocean floor rocks is critical for understanding past, present and future climate variability.  This is a challenging task as many of the processes governing this exchange are distributed throughout the ocean, laterally and vertically over scales ranging from centimeters to thousands of kilometers.  Remote sensing via satellites and in situ measurements from ocean robots are some of the tools available to make these observations, but presently, these assets are used disparately with each operating independently.

This short course will address current problems associated with constraining carbon exchange pathways, as well as the state of the art in remote sensing, autonomous underwater and surface vehicles, including autonomy, co-robotics, and persistent presence.  The course brings together experts in these diverse fields with a view towards identifying how a coordinated network of inter-communicating ocean robots and satellites can advance our ability to monitor the marine carbon cycle.

No registration is required for this free short course.  Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.  An informal lunch is provided for all attendees.