Preparations for A13.5 - U.S. NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown departed as scheduled from Valparaiso, Chile on 6 February and is scheduled to arrive in Cape Town in preparation for the CLIVAR A13.5 cruise.  The cruise will leave from Cape Town on 7 March, follow the prime meridian from 54S to 5N, and finish in Takoradi, Ghana on 17 April. An updated version of the Cruise Instructions, which contains a very detailed description of the cruise plans, proposed scientific programs, station locations, personnel and information on the ship is provided at http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/ocd/gcc/A13.5/ under ' Cruise Instructions'. 

Open sea and Ice trials for new icebreaker Araon - The Korean Polar Research Institute (KORPI) will launch its new research icebreaker the Araon later this month with open sea and ice trials between Christchurch and Cape Burks Antarctica.  The Araon (“ara”=sea; “on”=all) has been designed to carry out multidisciplinary research in the Arctic and Antarctic regions and to provide logistics support for Antarctic research stations.  International cooperation is sought for future research programs.  For more information, download the Araon brochure (pdf 780 KB) and presentation (ppt 8MB), or contact the Mr. Sang Heon NAM, Head of Polar Operation Department, KOPRI at shnam@kopri.re.kr.

Ocean Climate Memory (MOC2) program (Spain) will carry out sections along 0° and 8°N in February and April 2010 on the R/V Hesperides. PI is Jose Luis Pelegri. See project description and cruise map (pdf 172KB | Download).

S04P section planned for 2011 (USA). Will extend from McMurdo to Punta Arenas along 67° S with southward extensions along P14, P15, P16, P18. See map (pdf 120 KB | Download).

FICARAM section from Ushuaia to Cartegena (Spain) following WOCE A17 from 10° S to 36° N along 28° W will be repeated in 2013.

JAMSTEC has planned the following cruises: Indian Ocean sections I02 + I10 from 8° S + 111° E in 2011-2012. PI is A. Murata. Indian Ocean and Western Pacific sections S04/S04I + S14S, 62° S (33.5° E-168° E) + 174° E in 2012-2013. PI is T. Kawano.

OVIDE / A25 North Atlantic Section Greenland 60°N to Portugal  40°N:
June-July 2010: led by LPO (Ifremer-INSU, France), PI is Herlé Mercier, collaborators A. Rios, F. Perez, P. Morin.  Parameters will include T, S, O2, nutrients, freons, carbon.
June-July 2012: led by IIM Vigo (CSIC, Spain), PI is Aida Rios, collaborators H. Mercier, P. Lherminier. Parameters will include T, S, O2, carbon. Funding pending.
June-July 2014: led by the French Geotrace community.  Collaborators H. Mercier, P. Lherminier, A. Rios, and F. Perez.  Parameters will include T, S, O2,  carbon, geotraces variables.

Upcoming UK cruises (all have full CTDO, inorganic nutrients, TIC, TAlk, CFCs):
5 January to 17 February 2010 Atlantic 24°N, RRS Discovery/PI Brian King
March 2010, the western part of S04A (eastern part of S04A was done in January 2009 on RRS James Cook but was terminated early due to a medical emergency.)

IFM-GEOMAR (R/V Meteor) will conduct a hydrographic survey in November 2009 along line 23°W in the Atlantic, 15°N to 5° S, including tracers (CFC12, SF6), carbon parameters, oxygen and nutrients. This line is frequently run by IFM-GEOMAR, and occasionally with full chemistry.

For updates and corrections, please contact Maria Hood