The Atlantic Meridional Transect: overview and synthesis of data

The Atlantic Meridional Transect programme uses the twice-annual passage of the RRS James Clark Ross between the UK and the Falkland Islands. before a nd after the Antarctic research programme in the Austral Summer (see Aiken, J., & Bale, A. J. (2000). An introduction to the Atlantic Meridional Trans ect (AMT) Programme. Progress in Oceanography, this issue). This paper exam ines the scientific rationale for a spatially-extensive time and space seri es programme and reviews the relevant physical and biological oceanography of the Atlantic Ocean. The main scientific observations from the research p rogramme are reported. These are set in the context of historical and conte mporary observations pertinent to the principal objectives, of the cruise, notably the satellite remotely sensed observations of ocean properties. The extent to which the programme goals have been realised by the research to date is assessed and discussed. New bio-optical signatures, which can be re lated to productivity parameters, have been derived. These can be used to i nterpret remotely sensed observations of ocean colour in terms of productiv ity and production processes such as the air/sea exchange of biogenic gases , which relate to the issues of climate change and the sustainability of ma rine ecosystems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.