Development of offshore monitoring platform "SOLAReS" for SOLAS

Models of the atmosphere and ocean that integrate ecosystems are being developed so as to gain a higher level of understanding about current climate change and to predict further change in the future. However, it is difficult to evaluate these models until a sufficient quantity of long-term measurement data of slight changes in the atmosphere and ocean has been gathered. The time has come to conduct simultaneous, long-term observations of the atmosphere and ocean, focusing on the biogeochemical cycle between the atmosphere and ocean. This has involved advancing R&D of marine measuring and analyzing instruments and observation platforms. Based on such R&D, a plan to develop a frontier offshore monitoring system is being formulated. This will be one of the projects of SOLAS Japan contributing to international efforts. Our objective for the time being is to deploy a prototype on the waters off the Sanriku coast at the front of the Kuroshio and Oyashio currents.