Benefits of the AMT Programme

Over nearly three decades there has been 30 completed research cruises as part of the AMT programme. These in turn have hosted over 250 scientists (from more than 60 research institutes in over 20 countries), produced over 300 significant scientific papers and contributed to more than 100 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 100 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.

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  which have been published in high impact journals of both general interest and in more specialised well-cited journals.