2023 GO-SHIP A16N

This cruise will be part of a decadal series of repeat hydrography sections jointly funded by NOAA-CPO/GOMO and NSF-OCE as part of the Global Ocean Ship-based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP) program, an international component of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). Academic institutions and NOAA research laboratories will participate on what will hopefully be the first successful NOAA GO-SHIP mission since 2018. The GO-SHIP program focuses on the need to monitor inventories of CO2, tracers, heat and freshwater and their transports in the ocean. Earlier programs under CLIVAR, WOCE and JGOFS have provided a baseline observational field for these parameters. The new measurements reveal much about the changing patterns on decadal scales. The program serves as a backbone to assess changes in the ocean’s biogeochemical cycle in response to natural and/or man-induced activity. Global changes in the ocean’s transport of heat and freshwater, which can have significant impact on climate, can be followed through these long-term measurements. The GO-SHIP Program provides a robust observational framework to monitor these long-term trends. The goal of the effort is to occupy a set of hydrographic transects with full water column measurements over the global ocean to study physical and hydrographic changes over time. These measurements are in support of: 

• • Model calibration and validation
  • Carbon system studies
  • Heat and freshwater storage and flux studies
  • Deep and shallow water mass and ventilation studies
  • Calibration of autonomous sensors 

This program follows the invasion of anthropogenic CO2, CFCs and other tracers into intermediate and deep water on decadal timescales and determines the variability of the inorganic carbon system, and its relationship to biological and physical processes. 

The specific goals of this cruise are as follows: 

1. Re-occupation of the historic stations in this line, including up to the coast of Iceland. A total of 150 stations, from surface to bottom water sampling are required to fulfill the objectives for this cruise. 
2. A second cast dedicated to biological measurements at select stations throughout the line 
3. Deployment of up to 10 core Argo floats, up to 7 BGC-Argo floats and 1 deep Argo float 
4. Deployment of up to 40 drifters in support of NOAA’s Global Drifter Program 

The GO-SHIP line A16N will take place from March 6, 2023 to May 9, 2023 and will cover the Equatorial, Tropical and North Atlantic Ocean with a few stations in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Please join along on the journey by following the expedition blog!

Leg 1 Chief Scientist: Denis Pierrot, AOML/Co-Chief Scientist: Zachary Erickson, PMEL

Leg 2 Chief Scientist: Leticia Barbero, AOML/Co-Chief Scientist: Laura Cimoli, UCSD