Area of research: Diploma & Master Thesis
Job description
Master thesis: Modeling Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement in the Exclusive Economic Zones
Background
Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) has emerged as a promising marine carbon dioxide removal (CDR) method to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration by enhancing oceanic CO2 uptake. From a practical deployment perspective, OAE implementation is likely to occur first in coastal oceans rather than open ocean regions, due to legal and practical reasons. While studies suggest a theoretical high potential for OAE, the effectiveness of concurrent OAE deployments across multiple neighboring regions, and how these regional interventions interact is not understood.
To address this knowledge gap, the project aims to investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics and interactive effects of regional OAE deployment using the FESOM2.7-REcoM3 ocean-biogeochemical model. The study will simulate OAE deployments within the coastal zones of various nations.
A key focus of this work is to investigate how the regional OAE interventions interact with one another via ocean circulation, potentially giving rise to feedback mechanisms that influence oceanic CO2 uptake and biogeochemistry. The study will determine the minimum spatial separation required between deployment sites to avoid or minimize such interactions. Such interactions will be explored by investigating the effects on oceanic CO2 uptake, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) inventory changes, alkalinity distribution, calcium carbonate saturation state, and OAE efficiency. Together, these insights are essential for assessing the viability of OAE for developing suitable deployment strategies.
This project will contribute to “RETAKE-B, one of the six research consortia of German Marine Research Alliance (DAM) research mission ‘Marine carbon sinks on decarbonization pathways’ (CDRmare)”.
Your Tasks
- Creating alkalinity deposition mask for the coastal regions and reading it in the FESOM2.7-REcoM3 model code
- Carrying out the OAE simulations from 2030 to 2060 under an intermediate emission scenario (SSP2-4.5)
- Analyzing the model output and interpretation of the results
Your Profile
- Enrolled at a University
- Interest and working knowledge about ocean biogeochemistry and specifically the ocean carbon cycle
- Programming skills (e.g., python, Fortran, handling large/multiple datasets)
- Very good command of English (approximately equivalent to CEFR level C1)
Further Information
You are interested? You are interested? The please send us your application with Cover Letter and a CV (with all documents merged into one PDF file) by e-mail to: Tanvi Nagwekar (tanvi.nagwekar@awi.de; +49 471 4831-2218).
This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.
