Benefits of the AMT Programme
Over the past two decades there have been 22 annual research
cruises as part of the AMT programme. These in turn have hosted
over 220 scientists (from more than 60 research institutes in 18
countries), produced over 200 significant scientific papers and
contributed to 75 PhD studies. The benefits of AMT are far-reaching
and of high impact to oceanographic research as a whole.
The AMT is a well respected and established scientific research
programme which has enabled us to gain a greater understanding
about our oceans and the biogeochemistry within it. The cruise
enables scientists to make open ocean
observations through a wide latitudal degree (100°), which
includes both the north and south Atlantic gyres. The data produced
has been used across the globe and contributed to both the
scientific community and to policy development.
Data
The AMT data collected over the years has been lodged with the
British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) and is available from
their website.
In the last ten years over 1200 requests have been made for
this data which has been of great benefit to the wider scientific
community to analyse and interpret. This collaborative research
helps the scientific community as a whole to understand more
about the areas of the ocean we know little about. Having access to
long-term data in this way can assist with reviewing trends and
forecasting future outcomes which is not only valuable to
scientific understanding but addresses wider societal concerns
such as sustainability, climate change and marine
ecosystems.
See the Research Highlights page to see an example of how
scientists have used AMT data within their research.
Training and collaboration
The programme creates training opportunities for the next
generation of oceanographers both within the UK and
internationally, many PhD students have participated in the AMT
cruises, including
POGO (Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans) sponsored
fellowships given to students in developing countries.
Over 75 PhD thesis have also benefited as a result of AMT
data.
There has been a range of collaborations not only with UK and
international scientists but with other international projects.
Some examples of these include links with the UK Met Office, US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Rutgers
University and others. More information can be found on
the Related Projects
page.
Contribution to Science and policy
AMT aims to provide a sustained open ocean in situ
observing system to enable early warning of any fundamental change
in ecosystem functioning and to better forecast the marine
environment for society’s needs. Issues of the global carbon cycle
and its impact on climate change have become particularly prominent
issues over recent years. AMT research is even more important now
more than ever in gathering understanding of these effects to help
forecast future changes and impacts. It is this information that
can help support policy development and provide answers to serious
questions about future changes within the environment.
The research outcomes of the programme and
resulting collaborations have facilitated a large number of
scientific papers
(over 220) which have been published in high impact journals of
both general interest and in more specialised well-cited
journals.