Building predictive capability regarding the Baltic Sea organic/inorganic carbon and oxygen system

Baltic-C will develop and apply an integrated ecosystem model framework based on the cycling of organic carbon (C_org) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the Baltic Sea water and drainage basin, taking into account fluxes across the atmosphere and sediment interfaces (Fig. 1). The aim is to provide a tool with which to support the management of the Baltic Sea. The objectives of the project are:

to achieve significant progress in marine ecosystem modelling by aligning biomass production and oxygen depletion with CO₂ dynamics; and
to provide the first comprehensive integrated assessment of the potential effects of climate change, eutrophication, increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentration, and acidic deposition on carbon cycling in the Baltic Sea and its catchment area.

(Click image to enlarge)

Figure 1. Basic problem addressed in Baltic-C.

Coordination will be done by University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The management design and responsibilities of the involved institutions are:

WP1. Programme management (Anders Omstedt, University of Gothenburg, Sweden). Synthesizing and assessing the Baltic Sea CO2 carbon cycle: past and present state, and possible future changes. Disseminating results.
WP2. Measuring the Baltic Sea CO2 system and carbon inventories (Bernd Schneider, Baltic Sea Research Institute, Germany).
WP3. Inventory of river runoff data (Matti Pertillä, Finnish Institute of Marine Research, Finland).
WP4. Mineralization of organic material, deepwater-sediment interaction (Janusz Pempkowiak, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland).
WP5. Atmospheric forcing, including air-sea CO2 interaction, atmospheric deposition of acidic components (H2SO4 and HNO3) over whole catchments, and climate scenario outputs available from other EU programs (Anna Rutgersson, Uppsala University, Sweden).
WP6. Modelling the organic matter input from terrestrial vegetation and soils (Benjamin Smith, Lund University, Sweden).
WP7. Modelling the input of AT, CT, Ca, and Corg from all rivers entering the Baltic Sea (Christoph Humborg, Stockholm University, Sweden).
WP8. Modelling the Baltic Sea physical–biogeochemical system based on CO2/O2 dynamics and climate change (Anders Omstedt, University of Gothenburg, Sweden).

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