Numerous international groups are using the CVOO Station in Mindelo for their field-studies. A few examples are listed below. Further information on most of the projects can be found in our link-collection.
The “Eddy Hunt Project” is a multi-facetted interdisciplinary field study in the eastern tropical North Atlantic and is funded by the Kiel Excellence Cluster “Future Ocean”. The project investigates biogeochemical and ecological processes in recently discovered eddies that entail unexpected subsurface anoxia and hypoxia in the open ocean near CVOO. read more...
Trace gas
The chemical structure of the atmosphere is changing. In the context of climate change, the increasing concentration of greenhouse gas is being discussed. But there are numerous natural trace gases which change the chemical structure of the atmosphere despite their short resting time. The local impact of these trace gases can have a global importance.
The tropical ocean provides a good environment for the production and emission of trace gases. Therefore it is essential to do continuous observations in the tropical atlantic.
Ocean-atmosphere interaction - natural aerosols in a marine environment
Aerosols can have a big impact on the climate system by absorbing or reflecting radiation in the atmosphere. Currently, there is little known about the exact influence of different aerosols on the radiation budget. Different physical and chemical properties due to origin and age of the aerosols have different impacts on the radiation budget.
The Cape Verde islands are in an ideal position for exploring the different types of aerosols in different air masses from the open ocean or the african continent.
Interaction between the ocean and the desert
Nutirents like nitrogen and phosphor, but also iron, copper and zinc are beeing driven to the open ocean by wind from the continent.
These particles interact with the ocean in two different ways: the nutrients are fertilising the upper ocean and induce more biological growth. When sinking to the deeper layers, they transport organic particels and carbon into the deep ocean.
Measurements at CVOO and in the madeira basin can help to analyze the transport of particles from the desert into the ocean.
ZoOMin at TENATSO: “Zooplankton of the Oxygen Minimum Zone at the Tropical Eastern Atlantic Time-Series Observatory”
- Copyright Rainer Kiko - GEOMAR
The project aims to study the role of zooplankton organisms for the withdrawal of oxygen from and the transfer of carbon to oxygen minimum layers of the tropical eastern Atlantic. Depth-specific zooplankton catches during day- and nighttime are performed in order to investigate: zooplankton abundance, diversity and biomass, fecal pellet production, as well as respiration rates of dominant species (under at-depth and at-surface O2, CO2, T conditions) and the determination of hypoxia tolerance thresholds for dominant species.
The work on zooplankton abundance and diversity will be integrated into the general sampling scheme of CVOO and resulting data will be used to further optimize models on carbon and oxygen dynamics in OMZs.
