Abstract
The AMT (www.amt-uk.org) is a multidisciplinary
programme which undertakes
biological, chemical, and physical oceanographic
research during an annual voyage
between the UK and a destination in the
South Atlantic such as the Falkland Islands,
South Africa, or Chile. This transect of
>12,000 km crosses a range of ecosystems
from subpolar to tropical, from euphotic
shelf seas and upwelling systems, to oligotrophic
mid-ocean gyres.
The year 2015 has seen two milestones
in the history of the AMT: the achievement
of 20 years of this unique ocean going programme
and the departure of the 25th cruise
on the 15th of September. Both of these events
were celebrated in June this year with an open
science conference hosted by the Plymouth
Marine Laboratory (PML) and will be further
documented in a special issue of Progress
in Oceanography which is planned for publication
in 2016. Since 1995, the 25 research
cruises have involved 242 sea-going scientists
from 66 institutes representing 22 countries.
AMT was designed from the outset to
be a collaborative programme. It was originally
conceived by Jim Aiken, Patrick Holligan,
Roger Harris, and Dave Robins with
Chuck McClain and Chuck Trees at NASA
to test and ground truth satellite algorithms
of ocean color. The opportunities offered
by this initiative meant that this series of
repeated biannual cruises rapidly developed
into a coordinated study of ocean biodiversity,
biogeochemistry, and ocean/atmosphere
interactions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 101–107 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 30 Sep 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 2015 |